A Jinchuuriki's Destiny (LW Post)
by Lucius Walker
Summary: Stolen from his home planet, Naruto is introduced to a galaxy far far away. Thrown into the maw of the underworld, Naruto learns of his heritage, as well as his true calling. [This is basically a copy of "A Jinchuuriki's Destiny" by AmusedLight. With his permission, as his main beta-writer, I've decided to repost this story to help bring more readers.]
1. C1 - The Ripple

**LW AN: Once again, this story is basically reposting the original story, "A Jinchuuriki's Destiny", with the idea coming from AmusedLight. With his permission, I, his beta-writer, have published this story, in an effort to attract more readers, as well as to be able to apply for the beta-writer thing. **

**Hope there was no confusion, and please enjoy the story! **

* * *

**[Valley of the End]**

The Valley of the End is the place where the border of the Land of Fire and the Land of Sound meet. However, to the citizens of Konoha, the Village Hidden in the Leafs, it was a memorial. A memorial dedicated to the battle between Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju.

Many years ago, an incredible battle took place there, where Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, clashed with the legendary Madara Uchiha. Madara, who had become disillusioned with the foundation of Konoha, used his Sharingan to take control of the Nine-Tailed Fox, using it as his weapon against the first Hokage. No longer believing that peace can be achieved with diplomacy and kindness, he decided that peace can only be achieved through domination and power.

The battle was fierce, and the battle was destructive. The land around them was torn apart, shredded into oblivion as the two titans fought. Hills and rivers were born and destroyed as the result of the final battle between the Uchiha and the Senju clan. The earth shook as the Kyuubi roared alongside with Madara. The sky screeched as fire, lightning, and earth rained from above and below.

Despite Madara Uchiha giving it his all, in the end, he had lost, slain by the man known as the First Hokage, but also as the man that was once his best friend. Hashirama, who mourned the loss of his friend, decided to create two large statues of himself and his friend, as a tribute to his friend.

However, history has a funny way of repeating itself. Or more accurately, history has a funny way of rhyming like a tragic poem.

This is the case of Sasuke Uchiha, the last member of the Uchiha clan, save for his elder brother, who had slain his own clan members, sparing only his baby brother. Consumed by hatred, Sasuke had vowed revenge against his sworn enemy, doing whatever it took to become strong enough to kill his brother. That is when Orochimaru the serpent slithered into the garden, promising Sasuke power if he switched allegiances. After a few days of hesitation, Sasuke accepted his offer, defecting to the Sound Village with the help of Orochimaru's elite servants.

However, his defection did not go unnoticed. Tsunade, the newest Hokage for the village, had sent a team to retrieve Sasuke. That team consisted of Shikamaru, a member of the Nara clan; Kiba, a member of the Inuzuka clan; Choji, a member of the Akimichi clan; Neji, a member of the Hyuga Clan; and finally, Naruto, the unknowing last member of the Uzumaki Clan.

Naruto was the most special member of them all, in more ways than one. For one, he was the carrier of the Nine-Tailed Fox, which had laid heavy destruction to Konoha a few years ago. Because of his fate as Konoha's jinchuuriki, he was seen as the demon itself, and was ostracized from society. This might have crushed the souls of lesser men, but Naruto used his bitter life as motivation to prove his worth to his village. Declaring his goal to become the Hokage, he worked hard to become stronger. Eventually, the boy did grow stronger, meeting incredible foes and allies alike, and even learning some powerful techniques along the way, which included the Shadow Clone technique and the Rasengan.

Naruto, the energetic boy full of spirit, had eventually made some friends along the way, including his rival, Sasuke. They didn't always get along, but they had eventually grown to respect each other, and at some point, they eventually developed what some would call an odd type of friendship.

That bond, however, is currently being tested now, as Sasuke and Naruto were now at the Valley of the End. They had been fighting for a few minutes, and at the moment, they were both evenly matched, both in skill and determination.

"Sasuke…" Naruto's appearance had changed as he was using the same energy he'd used fighting against Gaara. He now had claw like hands and his teeth had sharpened like a fox, with his blue eyes turning angry red. "I will take you back to the village even its the LAST thing I will do!" Naruto yelled, running towards him over the water and throwing a powerful punch at the cursed-seal form Uchiha, who was sent back into the stone wall with a loud CRASH! The Uchiha was sent flying back so hard that it crushed the mountain wall behind him, causing some dust and debris to fall on him.

No movement was seen in the crater for a good five minutes, giving Naruto little breathing time.

"Don't be foolish…" Sasuke finally spoke out from the crater he now stood in. He slowly walked out of the crater, now fully transformed into his cursed seal form. His skin turned dark-grey like his eyes, and his hair grew longer as they turned dark blue. Sprouting from his back were webbed-claw-shaped wings from his back, and a star-shaped mark appeared across the bridge of his nose.

Sasuke, now in his fully formed cursed form, shouted, "And why do you even care?! Like I said, you never had a family! You've always been alone! So don't try to stop me!"

This had hit a nerve for the young blonde. Naruto wished he had the words to convince him from turning away, but he knew that Sasuke had a point. He never grew up with a mother cooking for him, since he had to catch food and cook it himself. He never had a father to teach him anything until he finally got to the academy, where he began to learn how to read and write. Growing up alone with no one to look after him, he learned quickly how to survive on the streets after being kicked out of the orphanage until a few folks came into his life to help him out. Like the late Third Hokage, who he called Old Man, who gave him a home to sleep in, and Iruka, who helped him after school hours to learn how to read and write.

Then came others like Shikamaru and Choji, who didn't shun him away like the other kids, and frequently hung out with him. Then came the whole Team 7, the very same team that he hung out with. The very same group of people that he ate with, fought with, argued with, and had fun with. The very same team that made him feel like he was a part of a family..

Then there was Haku, the rogue shinobi who he met before the fight on the bridge, who taught him that true strength came from protecting those you love. Even though he turned out to be the enemy, in the end Naruto knew that they were never truly enemies, and that perhaps in another life, they could've been friends.

And then there was Gaara. Poor, lonely Gaara, who was a fellow jinchuuriki who had it even worse than him. Gaara, who everyone hated and shunned, including his own father. Poor Gaara, who had nobody to tell him that it was alright, and that the world hasn't abandoned him.

Then he came along-an outsider from a different village that he was attacking. He, who understood his pain better than anyone else, even though Gaara had a sister and a brother to grow up with. He was the one that healed Gaara's wound, and was the first time to that stopped to realize who he was, and what he was not. He was the first one to not call him a monster, but rather, a friend.

He had found people to care about, and thus, people to protect, and he was not going to let his loved one get lost in a mission for revenge that he may never walk away from. "Even if I don't know how you went through without your family, you still need to know," Naruto started channeling huge amounts of chakra into the palm of his hand. "That you've still got memories of them while I didn't And you still got people that care about you! And I'll be damned if I let you turn your back on them!"

It could've been just him, but for a split second, he thought he saw pain in Sasuke's eyes. For a fraction of a second, he thought that his eyes, which was full of anger and hatred, dim a little, as if remembering all the memories he shared with Naruto. Every good and bad moments that they shared, and even in the rare times that Sasuke would smile, which would always send Sakura into a cheer.

Then that moment was gone, sadness and regret being consumed by the black fires of rage and hatred.

"Enough! Let's end this!" Sasuke yelled as he summoned his next attack with the remaining chakra he had left in his body, running towards Naruto with the sound of a thousand chirping birds coming out from his hand that was filled with lightning.

"CHIDORI!"

"RASENGAN!" Naruto's hand was filled with his most powerful technique as he rushed towards his friend. His arm stretched forward, he summoned every bit of energy he had left in his bones. He would not let the one person he considered the closest as a brother to the despair of revenge…

"I'LL TAKE YOU BACK TO THE VILLAGE, NO MATTER WHAT!"

The two techniques combined with an overwhelming force, that it had an unintended reaction that soon not only was felt around the area, but also into places no one expected.

The two techniques clashed once again, making the air and the water ripple with pure power. The two boys screamed as they fought for dominance, not willing to lose their battle.

Naruto felt many things in that moment.

Fear. The fear of losing his friend, and fear of losing this battle.

Hatred. Hatred for everything that's happened to him, everything that he missed out on that Sasuke was taking for granted, even after everything he had lost and still had.

Sadness. Sadness for the fact that one of his only friends was going to leave him for power.

Anger. Anger at everything. At his shitty life. At the way Gaara was treated. At the way that Sasuke made Sakura cry. At the way that he made him cry. At the way that Sasuke was just going to throw everything away for revenge, even the people that still cared about him. Anger at the fact that Sasuke got everything from the start, while he lost everything at the beginning.

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly as he felt his attack being pushed back. Something was changing. Something was different. Naruto's attack seemed to have been growing stronger, and it was pushing him back!

Little did the both of them know, that somewhere else in the vast universe, other people were also feeling this change. This surge of power, which Sasuke and Naruto was barely comprehending, was being felt on the other side of the galaxy.

* * *

**24 BBY - [Coruscant; Jedi Temple]**

Meanwhile, on a planet that was countless lightyears away from the planet that Naruto and Sasuke were on, there was a disturbance amongst a certain group of people.

On Coruscant, in the middle of the biggest city of the Grand Republic, was a temple, lived more than 10,000 Jedi, who were wielders of the Force that called this place their home, with Jedi Masters teaching their Padawans and younglings the ways of the Force in their daily lessons.

No, the disturbance didn't come from the fact that dozens of Star Systems just left the Republic, forming into what they called themselves "The Confederacy of Independent Systems." No, the disturbance had nothing to do with politics. Instead, it was the Force itself, or rather, something disturbing the once tranquil pond.

In that singular, simultaneous moment, every single Jedi froze in their steps. Some were bathing. Some were training. Some were reading. Some were teaching the younglings. Some were meditating. Regardless, every single one of them felt a shockwave in the Force, as if a large rock had suddenly been dropped into the pond, and they were the fish that was feeling the impact.

The younglings fell on their knees, unsure of how to deal with the wave of emotions that was overwhelming them. Fear. Anger. Hatred.

The Dark Side.

The knights and the padawans all stumbled on their feet, as if an earthquake had rocked the land, leaving them gasping for air.

Meanwhile up above, the Jedi Masters weren't doing much better. They all shuddered at the sudden wave of dark emotions. They all shivered at the feeling that most hadn't felt in many years, if ever.

The Dark Side.

"The Sith?"

Mace Windu closed his eyes to try figure out through the Force what that was; the strong surge of power was still present, and what he saw was terrifying:

_A large, fox with nine tails snarling as it roared in what he assumed to be in rage. It's glowing, red eyes then looked at Windu, and he could look no longer. _

One of the Masters, a small, Lannik male named Piell, put his hand over his head. "This presence…I've never felt anything like it before."

Another master, a Togruta female by the name of Shaak Ti, who wasn't normally the type to be easily rattled, found herself to be stunned by this anomaly.

"This isn't normal." She murmured. "It feels...so...different."

Yoda, on the other hand, was very calm, years of training keeping him focused and calm as everyone else was too busy chatting about what the new element could be.

"It must've been Dooku, no doubt about it."

"No, not even Dooku is that powerful." Plo Koon, a masked Kel Dor said, scratching his chin. "This is something far more powerful. Something far more...potent in the dark side of the force."

"Fear…"

All the other masters present in the room turned to the small, Grand Master, who spoke, his quiet voice instantly commanding their attention.

"Master?" Shaak Ti asked.

"Fear...hatred…" The small, green Jedi continued, before opening his eyes. "Anger...sadness." Yoda slowly listed. "The feelings of a boy. Pain, he is in. Terrible pain."

That honestly surprised many of the Jedi masters, their first assumption being that the source was coming from a Sith, but when Master Yoda named up the emotions, they began to wonder otherwise.

Windu snapped out of his shock quickly, silently noting that the last time the Grand Master felt something like this, it was with the future Padawan Skywalker, who, for some reason, was on Tatooine.

"Pinpoint the location we must." Yoda declared. "Of the source of the power, finding out we must."

"Somebody get to the communication center." Windu commanded. "We need to try and find out where this power is coming from."

"Not on regular map, this will be found." Yoda said, gained their attention again while standing up from his seat. He began to walk towards the exit. "The Jedi Archives, go we must."

"Why, Master?"

"Power like this, I'm familiar with." Yoda just kept walking as he thought back on it. "Felt this I never had, not since Padawan days of mine…"

This, again, stunned some of the other Jedi Masters. His Padawan days? That was almost over 600 years ago. Did the Grand Master know something the others didn't?

"Never felt this since…that terrible battle in Elementia."

…

**[Jedi Archives]**

In the midst of the Archives, many of the Jedi were still trying to cope with what they just felt through the force. Those who were more experienced quickly got a hold of themselves ,and were trying to help the younger ones who were struggling with the surge.

One of those who was helping out a young padawan was Jocasta Nu, who was comforting a young Togruta girl, who was covering her ears as she was tearing up.

"Be calm, young one." She whispered to her in a calm tone. "I'm here for you, nothing will happen."

"This anger, Master." The youngling shrieked, with tears falling down her cheeks. "Why is it so angry?" This was happening all over the temple, with Jedi Knights and Masters suddenly found themselves trying to help the Padawans and the younglings from going into panic attacks, as they weren't prepared for such an intense wave of the Dark Side. It grew so bad that even the medical bay had to send droids into the Archives to help out.

A few exceptions to that was one Anakin Skywalker, who just got back with Obi Wan Kenobi from a Senate meeting, and felt that powerful surge of the Dark Side just when they returned to the temple.

Stumbling, Padawan Anakin Skywalker had to take a moment to recover himself, alongside of Obi Wan. After a minute of meditation, Anakin was finally calm enough to finally analyze the situation in front of him. Anakin found himself dumbfounded by the amount of Jedi who were being helped by the others. "Master, have you seen something like this before?"

"No, Anakin." Obi Wan calmly answered that question while observing the scene, quite stunned by this as he wondered where that surge came from. Just then, he noticed Master Yoda and almost all of the Council Members following the Grand Master walking towards the Holocron Vault.

Walking up to them was Jocasta Nu, who was quietly asking the Grand Master, "Master Yoda, that power...the Padawans, they-"

"Please, Master Jocasta." Yoda said while continuing to walk towards the vault. "The vault in, I must."

"If you say so." Master Jocasta stepped aside as Yoda walked up to the Holocron Vault.

Yoda raised his hand, and unlocked the Vault with the Force. "Wait here, you must."

The other masters understood him, and watched the Grand Master walk inside the vault alone. The moment the eldest Jedi stepped inside, the vault closed right behind him.

…

If any normal civilian were to enter the Holocron Vault, the first thing they would notice would be the impressive amount of glowing, metal boxes, which contained priceless information that only the Jedi could access. If they stayed long enough, they would also notice how eerily quiet the tomb-like vault really is, with the only sounds they might hear would be their own breathing, or in this case, the sound of Yoda's cane tapping as he walked leisurely to his destination.

This is one of the many ways the Jedi are so different than the average person. This is also one of the many reasons to how different a Master is to a youngling. If Yoda concentrated hard enough, he would've been able to hear every single one of the Holocrons, each of them whispering their messages to the powerful force-wielder.

This would drive any normal person or even a youngling mad, which is why it's also a blessing that only Masters can automatically hear them, for only the Masters have a high enough skill to block out the endless chatter that would arise from the glowing, blue boxes.

'_Found it, I have.'_ Yoda thought to himself as he raised his hand.

With a quiet hiss, one of the holocrons popped out of the wall. It gently floated towards Yoda's awaiting hands. He cradled the holocron with care, as if one would care for a hatching egg - or a thermal detonator.

"Long time has it been, holding this." Yoda stared at the holocron, which held the knowledge of ancient history that he was unfortunate to be a part of. Locked away in this holocron, he had hoped that he would never have to open it again. Sadly though, the force had just proven him wrong, and it would appear that he would have to return to that planet.

Turning around while holding the holocron, he made his way back towards the exit of the Vault and prepared himself for the reactions those who would find out that a secret was being held from them for almost over seven centuries.

…

In the Jedi Temple Communications Center, seats and spots were being taken as it was being filled with Jedi of all ranks, including some younglings, who had calmed down at this point, and was more curious than terrified at what could've caused "The Ripple", as some have already dubbed it.

Windu walked up to the holoprojector table. Turning on the map, all of the lights dimmed down, with the only source of light being the glowing, holographic map of the galaxy, which almost took up the whole room. Yoda walked up to the holoprojector, and placed the holocron on the floor just in front of it.

"What's the master doing?" One youngling whispered.

"I don't know, maybe it has something to do with that sudden surge we had felt."

All chatter stopped when Yoda sat in his meditative position as he began to concentrate into the Force. Everyone knew to remain silent as possible, else they accidentally interrupt the wise master while he was connecting to the Force.

The holocron began to slowly open, splitting itself into dozens of pieces. All of those pieces floated away from each other as a small, ball of light rose up from the holocron. The ball of light floated upwards towards the holoprojector, before it began to glow brighter, the small ball of light becoming a miniature sun, blinding anyone who didn't cover their eyes immediately.

"Ah, my eyes!"

"Too bright!"

"What the kriff?!"

The brightness only lasted for a brief moment before it dimmed down, allowing every Jedi in the room to see again. When they looked around, they noticed that the Galactic map was still there, and that Master Yoda was now standing on his feet again. At first everyone thought that nothing had happened, until a youngling noticed something.

"Look!" A small, Twi'lek youngling pointed upwards the map. "Over there!"

Everyone looked up, but didn't see what the Youngling meant until Anakin noticed where the young boy was pointing at. Right at the southern sectors of the Outer Rim, just underneath the Sujimis and the Samix sector, now laid another sector in place of the void that was previously there.

"No way." This got Anakin to speak out. "There! That's an-"

"Yes, young Skywalker. A secret sector, it is." Yoda replied to Anakin's outburst. "Kept in the dark, everyone were. Two more planets with life, there are. Called the Omega Sector, it is. The planets, Elementia and Earth."

This took everyone by surprise, with many of them, younglings included, being excited to find out about a new life somewhere around the Galaxy, while others were wondering why this was kept a secret by the Grand Master.

One of those Jedi was Oppo Rancisis, a Jedi Master who was a Thisspiasian male, and also one of their oldest members, wondered why Yoda has kept this all a secret. "Massster Yoda, what'sss the meaning of thisss? Keeping the exissstence of thisss inhabited sssector away from the ressst of the Galaxy?"

"I would like to know myself, Master." Ki-Adi-Mundi, a male, Cerean Jedi Master asked calmly.

"Different reasons, both planets have." Yoda said solemnly. "Both planets, extremely unaware, life beyond their planets they don't know. No knowledge of each other, they do not." Yoda's ears then drooped in weariness. "...Violent, both planets are."

"How violent do you mean by that, Master?" Master Luminara questioned, who was an Mirialan female Jedi who just got back from Kashyyyk with her padawan, Barriss Offee.

"Many wars experienced, Earth has." Yoda explained to them. "Many wars, more vicious they turn, more deadlier their weapons become, more life perished, it resulted. Not like any other planet they killed more." Yoda spared the details to the knowledge of Earth's history he knew, now that he had revealed it to the Jedi it would be only a matter of time that this will be knowledge to the intergalactic community.

"But Master Yoda, what about the planet Elementia?" Anakin asked. Yoda seemed to stiffen up at this, as if remembering a terrible memory. Slowly, he raised his hand at the holocron, and it glowed again. This time, instead of a miniature sun, a large hologram popped out of the holocron, almost as if they were watching the Holonet.

* * *

_Explosions shook the earth as an unholy screech filled the air. Soldiers wearing Mandalorian armor flew away from the explosions as they fired at something in the distance. _

_Two men stood side to side as they panted, their white, traditional looking attire dirtied from battle. They looked like they were human, save for their abnormally pale skin, and their equally abnormal horns and eyes. One of them had strange, purple eyes, with rippling black lines in them, with a third, red eye in the center of his forehead, just above where his eyebrows should've been. _

_His brother, who looked a little younger due to the lack of wrinkles in his face, looked very identical to his twin, save for his eyes. Instead of the same third eye and the same two purple ones, his were milky eye. Despite this, even the younglings knew that he was not blind, and that he was perfectly capable of seeing the destruction around them. _

"_Brother," The milky-eyed one looked around at the destruction. Villages, mountains, forests, they were all destroyed in their battle between some terrible enemy. "I grow weary of this battle, and every day, I grow less confident that we can win." _

"_Faith in ourselves, we must have." A very young looking Yoda ran up to them from behind, his green lightsaber ignited. "Leave this planet, that woman must not." _

_Behind Yoda was what looked to be soldiers in white armor, as well as various other Jedi. Many were tending to their wounded, or comforting the dying, uttering prayers and other words of comfort. _

_CRUNCH._

_Yoda turned around, and saw a Mandalorian fly down to greet the Jedi. Covered head to toe in Beskar armor, Yoda could feel the red and black armor's pride and history from where he stood. _

"_I see that you haven't lost hope yet." The man grinned from under his helmet. Behind him, more Mandalorians in similarly colored armor landed near him, all armed with blasters, rockets, and various other weapons. _

"_You know, it's funny." A man wearing a dark robe stepped up to the group, wiping away remnants of what looked like white flesh. "I never would've imagined that we'd find ourselves on this crossroad to our shared goal of defeating this madwoman, Jedi." _

It was Darth Revan. Even from the holocron, everyone could feel his strong affinity to the Dark Side.

The sound of more igniting lightsabers erupted from behind him, and everyone realized that behind the Master of the dark side was more Sith. However, this time, they weren't here to destroy the Jedi. No, they were there to aid them in this shared quest to stop whomever this "madwoman" was.

"_Agree with you, I do." Yoda said, sounding quite weary as he stared at the giant dust cloud miles away from them - or rather, the behemoth that was coming out of it. _

The younglings, knights, and masters gasped in unison as they saw the giant beast step out of the cloud of dust.

_This monster was LARGE. Larger than any ship they could imagine. No, this monster was easily the size of 10 ships combined. It's singular, red eye glowed in the dark night, glaring at the opposing army that dared to stand in its way. It's large, sharp teeth looked like the size of a small cruiser, and looked sharp enough to shred one to pieces. It's titanic, spiky head eclipsed the moon, which, much to the horror of the audience, looked quite shattered. Sprouting from its back resembled a large conch shell with many deadly spikes. To finish off its looming, powerful look, ten large tails that stretched for miles waved mockingly at them from behind its back, looking like it could decimate mountains with a single, lazy swing. _

_Emerged from the monster's head was a pale woman, who looked awfully like the two brothers. She had long, sweeping white hair that almost matched her skin, with two horns that protruded from her skull, giving her a rabbit-like look. Her two, milky eyes, which glared at her opponents, greatly resembled the ones belonging to one of the brother, but unlike that brother, she had a third eye that greatly resembled the other brother's third one. Much like her sons, she wore a high-collared kimono, with tomoes running down the center and the edges of her gown, finished off with intricate gold and purple lines. _

"_So that's Kaguya Ōtsutsuki." Raven said, watching the woman who was in control of the Ten-Tailed beast. "So she consumed the so-called 'Chakra fruit' that was touched by the Force…and now she wishes to leave this planet."_

"_Happen, we cannot allow." Yoda stated, giving a rather dark glare at the woman._

"_I couldn't agree more." The leader of Mandalore growled as he pulled out what looked to be a lightsaber hilt. Activating the weapon, it made a high-pitched sound as the flat, black plasma blade ignited. This was the Darksaber, a prideful weapon created by the current Mand'alor, which was also the leader of this clan. _

_He turned to his warriors, raising his blade in the air. "For Mandalore!" He activated his jetpack as he flew into battle, with all of his followers charging as well with a roar, attacking the beast from the air._

_By his command, Mandalorian, Republic, and Sith ships flew in, firing at the strange, plant like men on the ground, as well as the behemoth itself. _

"_Mandalorians..." Raven ignited his red lightsaber with a chuckle. "No wonder Kato's clan is one of the fiercest and most respected clans of the galaxy." _

"_Strong he is, no doubt. Reckless he is as well." Yoda smirked. _

"_Enough talk, we must end this before she's gained enough power to execute that insane plan of hers." Revan said, before turning to his followers. "Charge!"_

_A roar of determination sent a shockwave of the dark side through the battlefield, sending a boost of morale amongst the allies as the sith lords and apprentices charges against the monster and the plant-like minions. _

_Revan turned to the small Jedi and nodded, before sprinting towards the beast as well, leaving Yoda with the other remaining Jedi and soldiers, who were still good to fight._

"_Commander." One of the Republic troopers with his helmet on walked up to the Jedi. "Are we going in?"_

"_Go now, we shall. Fight, we must."_

"_You heard him, men!" The Republic trooper turned to his men. "For the Republic!" He took charge as hundreds of remaining soldiers went on the attack as several other Jedi Masters and Knights followed them._

_The Mandalorians, who were still flying in the air, fired their rockets at the beast's head, while also taking care to avoid the tails that was trying to swat them out of the sky. The unlucky ones were sent flying painfully into the dirt, while the luckier ones lived to fight for a few more minutes. The beast, meanwhile, had to protect its head, else its master would be blown to bits. _

_BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! _

_The ten-tailed beast roared in pain and anger as its hands, which was protecting the rabbit-goddess, was burnt and blown to bits. Hissing, it began to cover itself with its tails as an effort to protect Kaguya. _

_Unfazed, the leader of the Mandos landed on one of the tails, slashing it with his Darksaber. Roaring, it moved to crush the pest that dared to stand on its tail. _

"_Absorb this." The leader said, shoving a thermal detonator into the wound, before dropping himself, flying away from the tails as it exploded, successfully severing a part of the tail while critically damaging another. _

_Meanwhile on the ground, the sith jumped upwards onto the beast's arms and using the force to boost his movement and anchor himself to the beast's skin, he ran on the Tailed Beast's body before jumping on its back, plunging their blades into the Ten-Tailed beast, hoping to bring damage to it._

_It, however, only served to piss it off, slamming its fists to the ground, causing a small earthquake and making some of those Siths fall off the back of the beast or retreat from it. Some of those who fell down met their demise when the monster slammed his fist into a group of them. It tried to slam another group of Siths, but got the full power of electrocution against its head._

_That came from Revan, who unleashed a wave of Force Lightning from his hand, shocking the beast and Kaguya with enough power to stun them both for the moment._

_The beast quickly recovered from that shock, but those few seconds was all the allies needed, with the giant monstrosity taking a full blast of a few rockets into its face, one nearly hitting its eye._

_That came from the Republic troops, who were firing everything they've got onto the monster, hoping it would take them down while the remaining Jedi used the force to try and levitate the wounded Mandalorians and even the Sith to safety and away from the beast._

_It was clear though, that even with the bravery and cooperation of the three different groups, their numbers were dropping fast. They already lost a great of numbers of their own, and they were about to lose a lot more unless an effective action was taken against the beast._

_Realizing this, Yoda ran up to where the two brothers Hagoromo and Hamura had landed after a rather nasty swipe from one of the creature's tails._

"_Hagoromo, Hamura."_

_The two brothers turned around and saw the tiny Jedi Knight._

"_Yoda-san, it's good to see you alive." Hamura smiled. _

"_With luck, I survived. Many did not, my master included." Yoda stated with sorrow. "Defeat this beast, how do we?"_

"_I am terribly sorry for your loss, Yoda-san." Hagoromo lowered his head in shame and respect. His moment of silence quickly ended as he turned back to his mother, who had just shot down a Republic ship, sending it crashing into a Sith's battleship. "There may be only one way to defeat our mother and end her reign of terror, and that would be by sealing her away. There is, however, an unfortunate catch."_

"_What is it?"_

"_Someone needs to knock her off her trance and distract her long enough for us to get close to her." Hamura said with a scoff "Only problem is that even if someone got close to her, she'll show no mercy and strike you down with her Byakugan and hit all your fatal points."_

"_We will both have to make physical contact with our mother in order to place our seal upon her. However, anybody who gets too close to her will undoubtedly be slain, so she'll have to be sufficiently distracted or stunned for us to make our move."_

_A nearby wounded Jedi overheard this, and asked, "By that you mean-"_

"_Whoever serves as the distraction will most likely never make it back alive." Hagoromo stated grimly. A dark silence then filled the air, save for the sounds of battle and the roars of the demonic creature. _

_Just then, two Mandalorians landed behind them, with one of them being wounded and the other helping the other to their feet. _

"_And will save the galaxy from grave danger…" The wounded Mandalorian warrior grunted, before slowly standing up by himself. "I'll do it." _

_He tried to stand on his own feet, but his injured leg couldn't support its owner, causing him to stumble. "I'll distract her." _

"_No you won't, Wren."_

_The two Mandalorians turned around to see their great leader land and walk up to them. "If someone's going to distract that woman, it'll be me." The wielder of the Darksaber pointed his thumb to himself. _

"_A-are you sure about this?" Hagoromo asked, not sure whether to be impressed or concerned for his choice. _

"_Very." Kato said grimly, staring at the wounded and the fallen. "I brought my people here to fight. I am their leader, and therefore, every victory, every loss, and every death falls on my hands. As leader of Mandalore, it is my duty to lead the way."_

"_No, Kato!" The wounded Mandalorian named Wren protested. "I won't let you die. Let me do it!"_

"_It is alright, brother." Kato placed his hand on the warrior's shoulder. "I know what I am doing, and I know the risk. However, if it means that I can give those two a chance to stop their mother's reign of terror, then so be it. Besides, you cannot sacrifice yourself. Your wife will be having your child soon."_

"_She can take care-"_

"_And leave the baby without a father?" Kato asked his friend, getting no answer in response. "Your child needs to be raised by a father who will give him love. Give them the experience you didn't have." _

_The leader of Clan Wren's hands clenched into fists as he looked down. Whether it was in reluctant acceptance or shame, he will never know. _

_Kato then turned to the other clan leader. "Kryze, I trust that you'll look after Mandalore in my place, should something happen to my clan."_

"_Of course, sir." Kryze nodded, promising his brother in arms, who he had fought alongside with in so many battles against Mandalore's enemies._

"_Good." The leader of Mandalore smiled, before taking a deep breath. He turned towards Kaguya, who had just shot down a Mandalorian warrior, before activating his jetpack. _

"_Remember," He turned to face his people one last time. "This is the way." _

_Then he flew off, determined to fight one last battle. _

"_Farewell, brother." The leaders of Clan Wren and Kryze said, words that'll never reach their leader._

_Like a shooting star in the sky, everyone stopped to gaze in wonder as a single man, a single warrior, charged bravely at the goddess. Like any others, Yoda watched as Kato set his jetpack to maximum speed, flying directly towards the body of the Ten-Tails. _

"_Well, what are you waiting for?!" The leader of Clan Wren finally barked out. "Are you just gonna let him do all the work? Concentrate all fire on the abomination!" _

_Snapped out of their stupor, everyone roared in detemation as they doubled their efforts to stop the woman, this time, however, with the goal to defend the leader of Mandalore. _

_Kaguya, who was previously stunned at the man's bravery, immediately began to try to swat him out of the sky, only to be bombarded on all sides by blaster-fire, plasma cannons, and lightsabers as everyone gave it their all to give Kato an opening. _

_Kaguya, who had a stoic face all this time, was now in shock, throwing everything she had at the flying warrior in front of her. _

"_Fool. You shall not end me!" Kaguya roared as the veins around her eyes bulged out. "EIGHTY GODS VACUUM ATTACK!" She summoned a barrage of fists at the Mandalorian to try to take down this annoying pest. _

_Much to her shock, the Mandalorian, who was very skilled with a jetpack, effortlessly dodged her attacks, and was still growing much closer to her second by second. Taking out his darksaber, he ignited it, the high-pitched noise making her eyes widened even further. _

"_Open wide!" He roared as he fired his flamethrower from his wrist, forcing her to block her face with her arms. He then slashed downwards at the woman. _

_CRUNCH!_

_The small sound, which was somehow heard from across the raging battlefield, was enough to stop everyone in their tracks. When the smoke and fire cleared out, it showed Kato...with an arm pierced through his chest. _

_Kaguya, who had a triumphant smirk on her face despite the massive burns she just suffered from, had her arm through the Mandalorian's chest, piercing through his armor and his organs. _

_Coughing out blood, Kato dropped his Darksaber, the weapon deactivating as it fell out of his reach. Seeing this just widened Kaguya's impossibly wide grin even further. _

"_Your bravery is noted." Kaguya leaned in close to his helmet, which never attempted to look away from her. "However, did you really think a mere mortal like you can ever kill me?" _

"_Maybe not." The warrior coughed from under his helmet. "That's why that wasn't part of the plan." _

_The woman looked confused at this, until he pulled out a metal cylinder. Lifting his thumb off of the button, he tossed it upwards into her face. _

_BANG! _

_The explosion was loud, ear piercing, and blinding. The flash bang did its work as Kaguya howled in pain as all three of her eyes shut tight. Flinging the Mandalorian off of her arm, she covered her ears as she shrieked, curling up into a ball in agony. _

"_Now brother!"_

_The woman opened her eyes when she felt two persons by her sides. It was obvious that while she was still blinded, she knew exactly who the two people were, and weakly lifted her arms to try to stop them, but it was too late. The two sons planted their palms at her sides, a grim look on their face. _

"_SIX PATHS - CHIBAKU TENSEI!"_

_The minute the two brothers shouted those words, the Ten-Tailed beast was suddenly disconnected from her. Their mother's eyes widened in shock, fury, and then sadness as she began to float upwards. _

_Suddenly, the earth began to rise up from down below towards her. Rocks and large chunks of the earth flew up as they surrounded the woman, imprisoning her in the large sphere. _

_It was as if a 100 Jedi was using the Force to entomb the rabbit-goddess with the earth, creating a new moon. _

_Everyone, from the Sith, the Jedi, and the Mandalorians, all stared at the new moon being created to replace the broken one in the sky. After what seemed like forever, they all began to cheer. _

_The battle was over. The galaxy was safe-for now._

* * *

The recording ended, leaving everybody in the room astonished with what they had just witnessed as the young days of Grand Master Yoda when he was a Jedi knight. Many of the younger members of the Order began to murmur:

"Wow…"

"That monster...it felt just like-"

"Yeah, can't get those shivers from my back."

The Jedi Masters like Windu, Shaak Ti and Rancisis were wondering why the wisest member of the Jedi Order held such a shocking fact of history.

"Many Jedi, gone with the Force, they had that day." Yoda grimaced, not trying to think about the slaughter. "Padawans, Knights, Masters. All died, with few survived." He thought also of those troops, Mandalorians, and even a few of the Sith who were willing to help. "Many brave men and women, gone they now are. Hurts me, it still does."

Everyone could feel the pain coming from the eldest master, with many wishing to comfort him for his loss.

"What all of you felt, 'The Ripple', as you call it, is quite different than the Dark Side. Important to understand it, it is. Find it first, we must, else the creature may fall into the wrong hands."

"Hold on, Master." Anakin suddenly interrupted, causing a few of the younglings to gasp at his audacity. "You said that the Sith will be looking for it. Yet, you fought alongside some Sith Lords to fight it. Why would it be any different now?"

This made all of the Jedi to fall into a sea of murmurs again, loudly discussing Anakin's point.

Windu didn't look too pleased at Anakin's question.

"Skywalker…"

"Enough, Master Windu." Yoda said, calming the hardened Jedi Master down as he turned to the young Skywalker. "Reason for my concern, young Skywalker, is because the old Sith, Revan, Talon, and Bane, knew of the risks the Ten-Tailed possessed, they did, as well as its master, Kaguya. The new Sith, however, care not, or know not, of the risks involved."

"But why was Bane there? He died like three thousand years ago!" Anakin pointed out, knowing for a fact that Darth Bane was in the times of the Old Republic, long before Yoda was even born.

"Some things in the Force, even I yet to discover, I have." Yoda answered to him, gaining more confused reactions from the Jedi.

Obi Wan, who was beginning to understand the gravity of the situation, looked at the space between the Omega Sector and the Coruscant Sector.

"So you say this map leads us towards that ripple we just felt?"

"Yes." Yoda nodded grimly. "This map I held, for six hundred years I have."

Yoda waved his hand again, and the map shrank back into the holocron.

"Danger to the galaxy, there will be, should that woman ever return."

The idea of that creature storming towards the Jedi Temple made many in the room shiver in fear.

"What do you suggest we do with this, Master?"

"Bring this to the Senate, we must." Yoda said, stunning everyone in the room by his proposition. "Contact this planet, we must."

"But Master," Shaak Ti, who had been mostly silent up to this point, couldn't help but ask, "Why would you want to reveal the location to the public? Wouldn't this only double the risk of the Sith trying to get their hands on this beast?"

"Because, it split into nine, it has."

'_Split into nine?'_ Everyone in the room thought. '_What does he mean by this?' _

"After the creature's defeat, split the energy of the beast, Hagoromo did. Nine creatures, he created. All of them, own power and will, they have. The weakest having one tail, nine with the strongest."

"What creatures are we talking about?" Plo Koon asked. In response, Yoda waved his hand at the holocron again, and it was replaced with a simple image. The first image shown was a picture of a one-tailed tan colored animal, with dark blue markings all over its body.

"The first is the one-tailed racoon-dog, so I was told. Manipulate sand, it can. Shukaku, his name is."

"A sand creature." Obi Wan glanced at Anakin. "Well Anakin, if we need to fight it, perhaps your expertise can be useful for this one." This gained some laughs from some of the Jedi in response to his joke.

Anakin simply grunted in return, looking away with a slight look of irritation.

Yoda (with a slight grin on his face from the banter) waved his hand in a swiping motion, and the image shifted to the two-tailed beast. This one was radically darker than the one-tailed beast, with its fiery "fur" being dark blue and black in color. Its eyes were heterochromatic, with the right being yellow and the left being green.

This particular one caught the fascination of some of the younger Jedi, with some even finding it pretty.

"Her name, Matatabi, it is." Yoda said, gaining some cheerful comments from the female younglings.

"It's a her!"

"She's pretty!" They squealed, before getting hushed by the nearest Jedi Master.

Yoda couldn't help but chuckle. "Pretty she looks, yes. But do not be deceived, younglings. Ability to use fire, she has. Deadly, her claws are."

This got some of the girls to giggle as they looked at their male classmates, who often teased them about their "obsession" over their nails.

The next picture was that of a creature that looked a lot less pretty, but looked to be much more durable in battle. It looked to be an aquatic, three-tailed creature, as evident by its crustacean-like shell, and unlike its two-tailed sister, it looked much more fearsome with its rough, spiky shell and its glowing red eye.

"This is Isobu, the beast of the sea. Grumpy, it looks, but very kind, it actually is. Deep in the seas, it usually resides."

"Certainly not a creature to mess with, especially in the waters. Wouldn't you agree, Master Fisto?" Plo Koon asked to his Nautolan friend, Kit Fisto.

"Sure looks like a rough one alright." The other Jedi Master agreed. "I'm pretty sure even our lightsabers would have trouble with that kind of shell."

The image of the four-tailed beast then came up. This primate-looking creature had bright red fur, with elongated fangs protruding from its mouth and two long horns curving upwards like a crown. With its yellow eyes, which uncomfortably reminded some of the Sith, this one also looked to be a ferocious creature to meet in battle.

"A prideful creature, this one is." Yoda explained. "Son Gokū, it likes to be called."

"That's one big angry looking creature." Shaak Ti pointed out, looking at the expression of the Four-Tailed Monkey.

Yoda nodded, before moving on to the next image. This image showed the Five-Tailed beast, whose peculiar appearance made it difficult to decipher what animal it was based off of, with the only obvious details being its mostly white skin, five tails, four legs, and its long horns.

"Kokuō, his name is. Mixture of a horse and dolphin, told me he was."

"Dolphin and horse?" Anakin asked with a raised eyebrow. "Are those animals from the Omega Sector?"

"Let's just move on, please, Master." Obi Wan asked. The image quickly shifted to another hologram that showed a white, slimy, dripping blob monster that made some of the younglings cringe in disgust."

"EEEEWWW!" Some of them cried out.

"Saiken, this one is called." Yoda pointed out. "Six Tails, he is. Slug, his animal is. Gas and liquid attacks, his speciality is."

"I don't want to imagine what you're meaning by that." Piell crossed his arms, thinking about this particular tailed-beast. While it's true that this one didn't look like much-hell, it looks like a couple of lazy blaster shots would easily take out this thing-the idea of it using gas and liquids for its attacks made it seem more dangerous than its appearance suggests.

The next image was very underwhelming, to say the least, with the hologram showing what appeared to be a seven-tailed tiny beetle. Looking harmless and quite cute (to some), it looked like it posed less of a threat than the six-tailed slug.

"Chōmei, his name is. Cheerful, this one is."

"He doesn't look too bad." Anakin commented, to which Yoda shook his head.

"Many years ago, this was, when they were born. How much they have changed, is the question." Yoda said sagely.

"Gyūki, next is." Yoda resumed as he turned to the next hologram. This one looked to be a mix of an octopus and a sheep, with large eight-tails behind its back. Oddly enough, it's most notable feature was its pure, white eyes, with no irises whatsoever.

"Another aquatic beast, this one is. One of the strongest of the group, he is."

Rancisis, wishing to wrap this up, asked, "And whatsss the last Tailed Beast?"

Yoda nodded, before turning to the last image. The last one showed a picture of what was arguably the cutest one of them all. Sitting on the ground was the picture of what appeared to be an orange, baby fox with nine tails.

"AWWW!" Many of the younglings cried out.

Yoda couldn't help but smile at this.

"The Nine-Tailed Fox, this is." Yoda explained. "Kurama, his name is. Most powerful, it may be."

Yoda's face then turned grim, and everyone knew that bad news was coming.

"The 'Ripple', as you call it, came from Kurama." Yoda closed his eyes in distress. "Anger, I felt, coming from this old friend. Changed, my friend did. What has happened, is the question."

While the rest of the Jedi were still trying to cope with the fact that giant beasts of the Force were present on an undisclosed planet, Windu, Rancisis, Piell, and Obi Wan looked to one another and to the other Council members. It didn't take a genius to figure out just why Yoda kept this all a secret to everyone.

"No doubt that the Sith have felt it." Yoda stated. "Doom will arrive, if the Sith controls the beasts. Prevent this at all costs, we must."

The Grand Master then turned to the other Jedi present in the room. "Inform this to the public, we cannot do. Cause panic, it will. Work in discrete, we must. Protect the galaxy from grave danger, we must."

It was then that everyone, even the younglings, knew of the grave danger this rogue element can cause. They knew that this was no laughing matter, and that they must take this secret to the grave, if they must. It was unnecessary to say that this information could never leave the temple, save for the senate.

Windu was the first to speak after the thoughtful silence. "So you wish to bring this information about this sector and its dangerous history to the senate. That way we can have clearance to travel to this sector in hopes that they'll join the Republic, especially before the Separatists get to them first."

"Accurate, your statement is, Master Windu." Yoda nodded, closing the holocron as he pocketed the box. "Need to bring this to the senate now, we must. Master Windu and I shall debrief this to the Chancellor."

"For now, everyone needs to keep this information to yourself." Windu instructed everyone. "All who have not been informed yet will be informed, but again, I cannot stress just how dangerous this information can be if leaked to the public. That will be all."

At their dismissal, everyone in the room began to return to their activities before they felt The Ripple, leaving the Jedi Masters alone to think about how they will explain to the Senate about this news.

Yoda, however, was thinking about something much different.

Yoda was thinking about his time with the two brothers and the war against Kaguya, as well as their goodbyes as he had to leave. He remembered Hagoromo's last moments, and how he created the tailed beasts. He remembered their brief, yet joyous introduction, and how they were fascinated by the ships, as if they weren't a miracle of the force by themselves.

'_Such innocence, those beasts had.'_ Yoda mused sadly. He then reflected on The Ripple, and even though it has been forever since he has first and last met the Nine-Tailed Fox, he could never forget their signatures in the force.

'_Kurama...what has happened while I was gone? Were you trying to me something?' _

* * *

[Elementia; Konoha Hospital (A Week Later)]

Tsunade took another swig from her saké bottle, letting out an audible sigh. Shizune, her loyal apprentice, was not too far behind her as they walked down the hospital hallway.

The staff members, both civilian and shinobi alike, saluted her as she walked by, but she barely acknowledged them, too busy worrying about a particular patient of hers.

It had not been a good week for the 5th Hokage, although to be fair, it hadn't been a good week for anyone in Konoha, especially not for the Shinobi teams involved with the latest incident.

It had been a week since Sasuke Uchiha had tried to defect to Orochimaru, with the help of his goons, The Sound Four. Initially, it was thought that he was kidnapped, and a team was set up by his former classmates to go and rescue him, but the mission quickly evolved into a retrieval one when it was discovered that Sasuke went with them willingly.

The Sound Four weren't Orochimaru's elites for nothing, as the Konoha team learned the hard way. That's why Tsunade called in the help of the Sand Village as reinforcements, which they were more than happy to accept, as an effort to help make up for the invasion that they participating in against them not too long ago.

Gaara and his siblings Temari and Kankuro were the only ones the Sand Village sent, but they proved to be enough, quickly helping out the injured Konoha teens.

However, even with the help of the Sand Village, the mission, while a success, still turned out to be rather disastrous.

"Shizune, status report."

"Oh! Um," Shizune grabbed a folder from her hands, and began reading off of it. "We've been monitoring their health for a good seven days, and we're clear to say that most of them are going for a good and steady recovery. Choji Akamichi has been out of critical condition after day two. Neji Hyuuga is already showing signs of progress, as he just woke up yesterday. Shikamaru Nara and Kiba Inuzuka were already discharged from the hospital, which just leaves us with the two remaining patients."

"What's his status?" Tsunade asked a little too quickly.

"Right." Shizune began reading it off. "After an operation going well, Sasuke Uchiha is-"

"I don't give a damn about him!" Tsunade snapped, making Shizune flinch in fear.

Tsunade stopped, and took a deep breathe. "I mean, how is _his_ condition?"

Shizune knew exactly who she was talking about. "Oh, Naruto's…" She had a grim look, and sighed. "Still no change from his current status."

Tsunade stopped abruptly, and for a second, she thought that Tsunade was about to have another outburst, until she realized that they had made it to their destination.

Their destination was located in a special section of the hospital. This particular room was reserved for VIP patients, such as ones like the Hokage, or in this case, the village's jinchuriki.

Getting past the guards, who regarded the hokage with a respectful nod, they opened the door, and found a grim sight. A singular bed was in the room, with the unfortunate patient being surrounded by lots of machinery. The machines monitored the patient's blood levels, breathing patterns, and his heart beats. The said patient was covered in bandages, with tubes stuck into his throat for food, water, and air.

That patient was Naruto Uzumaki, the boy who would normally hop out of bed in the morning with a happy grin on his whiskered face. Naruto Uzumaki, who was full of energy and determination just a week ago, was now breathing through a mask tube, with his face covered in serious burns and bruises, which was thankfully covered in bandages.

Despite them being trained shinobi, despite them being experienced medics, it still broke their heart to see their little troublemaker in this critical state.

"He's still recovering from his wounds." Shizune began to explain. "Even with the Kyuubi healing him, his lungs are still in critical condition, due to the two Chidori attacks Sasuke inflicted on him."

The dark look on Tsunade's face almost discouraged her from continuing, but the hokage gave her a nod to continue.

"Upon arrival, we immediately operated on him for almost nine hours, compared to Sasuke's surgery, which only took three. He flatlined twice, but we were able to bring him back quickly, thank kami. But that's not the concerning part."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at that.

"Naruto almost died twice so far, and _that's_ not the concerning part?"

Shizune cleared her throat.

"Correction, that's the second most concerning part, aside from that. Anyways, what's concerning us is that according to our calculations, Naruto should've woken up by now. The problem is that he's still in a coma, which he shouldn't have been in in the first place."

"...Explain."

"Well, we know that it wasn't our drugs that did it. Believe me when I say that we thought about putting him into a medically induced coma, but we made good progress on him by the time that thought crossed our minds, and not to mention his incredible healing factor did 25% of the work for us, so we aborted that idea. We also know that it wasn't the Kyuubi's chakra either, since we scanned his brain cells for any chakra contamination."

"So what did cause his coma?" Tsunade asked, now more concerned than angry.

"Well, the thing is that we're not entirely sure. But, we suspect that it could be extreme mental fatigue - which, I suppose makes sense, due to everything he just went through."

"Mental fatigue? That's new."

"Like I said," Shizune scratched her head, obviously still baffled by their "explanation." "Not entirely sure. It's just a theory we're going by."

"When will he wake up?" Tsunade asked, not sure if she'll get a definite answer.

"Well, we believe that he should be awake within another week or so." Shizune said with a small smile. "Again, just going off of calculations, but you know Naruto. He'll surprise us the next day or something by getting up early in the morning!"

"That's good to know." Tsunade gave her a small smile, which felt like a victory for Shizune. That moment of smiles was abruptly ended when Tsunade asked her for Sasuke's condition.

"Well, he's certainly responsive and awake by now." Shizune said gingerly, knowing that just talking about the Uchiha could be enough to set her off. "He's been eating lately and been trying to walk, but aside from that, he's still avoiding any social interactions, and has been uncooperative so far with basic conversations."

"Sounds like him alright." Tsunade scoffed while staring at Naruto with a frown. "He's lucky the only thing I've done to him was have Kakashi seal off his chakra for his actions."

"Still, there are people asking for what happened precisely at the Valley of the End." Shizune mentioned. "People are wondering what could've happened to Naruto back there that caused him to fall into a coma, since Sasuke isn't speaking to anyone about it."

"Did he receive any visits? Letters?"

Shizune nodded with a smile. "Kakashi and Sakura makes it a habit to stop by at times, and recently, the other members of the Retrieval team are beginning to visit him as well. Shikamaru and Kiba have already visited him a few times, and so did their teams and masters. But that Hyuuga girl - Hinata, I think that's her name, - has especially been visiting everyday. We even got a get-well letter from the Sand Village support team. Then there's the Ichiraku family and his former instructor Iruka."

It warmed Tsunade's heart to see that there were many people who cared about the young boy's condition. It didn't help that she was one of the many people that was secretly hoping that he and that Hinata girl would get together, and would finally forget about the pink-haired girl. Her eyes then fell onto the necklace around Naruto's neck, and flinched, wondering if his condition was a sign of bad luck or a sign of good luck.

"Let's leave the gaki to rest. If he wakes up, I'll personally give him a bowl of ramen."

Shizune couldn't help but smile. "I think he'll like that, my lady."

Both women eventually turned to leave, leaving the boy alone to rest. With the lights left on, the only sound present in the room was the monitors and the beeps, proof that the young boy was still alive.

* * *

[Space - Approaching Elementia]

Unbeknownst to the Elemental Nations, the planet of Elementia was finally going to have visitors from outer space for the first time since many years ago.

A large, Consular-class Cruiser suddenly shot out of hyperspace, the large ship slowly approaching the blue and green planet below the spacecraft.

"We've reached our coordinates, sir." The pilot of the Republic Navy said to the head of security of this delegation, Gregar Typho, a captain of the Royal Naboo Security Forces and bodyguard of senator Amidala.

He was now responsible for the security of the diplomatic mission to this new world that was supposed to be filled with different nations-states.

"Okay, be ready to enter the surface. We're going to land." Typho ordered as the Jedi plus the Senators walked in the bridge.

"We're here." Anakin noted, staring at the beautiful planet up ahead.

"It reminds me of Naboo." Senator Padme Amidalla couldn't help but admire the planet, which had just the right amount of blue and green from outer space.

"Abundant in nature, the planet is." Yoda agreed. "Still is, glad to know."

"Well, let's just hope that the natives are friendly." C-3P0, Anakin's protocol droid, commented nervously. "From what I've heard from Master Yoda, the odds of them reacting negatively to our arrival are 80% to-"

"Relax, C-3P0." Anakin interrupted him. "It's not like we've come completely unprepared. Worst case scenario, we'll have to shoot and cut our way out of a fight if we have to. The venator will stay above us to reinforce our escape if we have to."

"I hope I don't have to remind you that this is a diplomatic mission." Obi Wan said, stroking his beard. "So please allow the Senator to do the talking."

"Yeah, yeah." Anakin waved him off, much to his annoyance.

Despite the light hearted banter, everyone, the Jedi included, were pretty tense. Unlike many other worlds out there, this one was a complete anomaly. If the other citizens of this planet had the same or similar powers to the Sage Hagoromo…

Then the potential war between them could end up in a bloodbath for both sides.


	2. C2 - After All These Years

**[The Prison of the Nine-Tails]**

Officially known to a select few, inside of the boy named Naruto Uzumaki was a tailed beast. To be more exact, the Nine-Tailed Fox, aka "The Kyuubi", the same tailed beast that had attacked Konoha only a few years ago, was sealed inside of Naruto.

The Kyuubi, a creature made of chakra, whose size easily rivaled mountains, whose power can shatter the earth with a single cleave from its tail, was locked into the body and soul of a child. Locked behind the inescapable cage, the tailed beast could do nothing but sleep and observe the world through the boy's eyes. All because of the damned, late Fourth Hokage, who was known to many as "The Yellow Flash."

Since most of what its prison warden does was boring beyond comprehension, all the beast did was sleep for the most part. Right now, however, it was wide awake. That was because just a week ago, the blond brat had another interesting fight, where he needed his power to help him win. What was even more entertaining was the fact that he was fighting an Uchiha, or to be more exact, the last of its kind.

The Demon Fox smirked, reminiscing about the memory of the fight. Sure, he hated the annoying Uzumaki brat to hell, but he hated the Uchihas even more, and he took utmost pleasure in watching him beat the crap out of him, even if he didn't exactly walk away unscathed. Sure, the Uchiha brat wasn't killed, as he secretly hoped for, but he was still dragged back to the village in humiliation, and was no doubt going to be branded a traitor.

The Kyuubi frowned when his thoughts trailed from the defeated Uchiha to the Uzumaki brat that was containing him. He had to work extra hard to keep his ass alive, due to the two gaping holes in his chest. The worst part was that after his generous decision to keep the boy alive, he wasn't going to be thanked for it, which felt like another spit to the face he couldn't retaliate against.

Now he knew that the kid might be staying in this coma for another week or two, he found no reason to stay awake and just take another deep nap into his slumber.

But that wasn't what was occupying the fox's mind. No, it was the strange power that Naruto had just used moments before Sasuke Uchiha had been defeated.

It was...dark. Dark, potent, and powerful, it wasn't something that he had felt since...the day he was born. It was a power that was similar to theirs, and yet, it wasn't a power that they could use themselves.

Oddly enough, it gave him a sense of nostalgia that he knew was something he could never understand, given how he could remember everything from birth.

Before Kurama could think on it some more, something else caught his scent. He blinked, and he realized that something - or someone - had just entered this planet.

His eyes widened as he realized that he had felt and smelt this presence before. This scent, this aura, this power...he had felt it before. It was when they were born. It was when they saw the strange men retreat into the Heavens, sailing beyond the stars in their metal ships, with powers that rivaled theirs.

Kurama sensed a rainbow of auras, some darker than others, and some much brighter than the others. But only one of them stood out in particular. Yes, this aura...it was the one that he had met before.

**"Yoda...my old friend. Have you returned after all these years?" **

* * *

**[Konoha - Konoha Hospital]**

Jiraiya let out a sigh for what seemed like the millionth time that day. The old Toad Sage was sitting by Naruto's bed alongside another visitor, who was not human.

Small, old, and green, it was the eldest summoning toad, who was wearing a brown cape, had gray hair, and had noticeably thick eyebrows, which was also gray from old age. The old toad might not look like much, but he was the one that taught Jiraiya in his younger days as a Shinobi, which is why even Jiraiya held much respect for the old animal.

His name was Fukasaku, a resident of Mount Myōboku, as well as being one of their strongest warriors. Usually isolating himself from the human world, it certainly came as a surprise for Jiraiya when he actually came to visit him and the boy.

"So this is your new apprentice, eh, Jiraiya-boy?" The elderly green toad asked as he stared at the comatose blond on the bed. "He sure took quite a beating from that Uchiha kid you told me about."

"Yeah, I know." Jiraiya said plainly, still staring at Naruto's unresponsive body. According to Tsunade, the boy was possibly near Death's door, due to the damage he had sustained by the hand of the Uchiha traitor. It was only thanks to Shizune personally leading Naruto's surgery that the boy was still breathing - for now.

"You're angry, Jiraiya-boy." Fukasaku noticed the Toad Sage's grim expression. "I can see that."

"I'm a shinobi." Jiraiya sighed. "Death is part of our everyday life. We learn how to take lives, how to prevent others from taking them, and ultimately, how to deal with death, regardless of who it happens to. And yet, even after all these years, it still takes me by surprise when a close one is at the bastard's door. I walked into my village wanting to buy this brat a cup of ramen, only to find out that he nearly died to bring back a traitor, which, for some reason, seems to be more liked than this hero himself." He ended with a frown, angrily pointing to his injured student. It honestly took everything the old pervert had to not walk into the Uchiha's room and finish what Itachi started.

Fukasaku nodded solemnly, understanding the old man's sorrow very well, before turning back to Naruto. "This boy, you sure that he's ready to take his training to the next level when he wakes up?"

"Maybe not." Jiraiya grunted, standing up to walk over to the blond's side. "But ready or not, the minute he recovers from his injuries and wakes up, we'll leave this village to help him train to be ready for the Akatsuki. If my intel is correct, then this will be the right moment to do so."

"So how long do you plan on training this boy anyways?" The old toad asked, staring at the breathing machine that helps keep the boy alive.

"Two years." Jiraiya said with a determined look. "I want to train him non-stop for two years."

Whatever else he was going to say, he held his tongue, seeing the elder toad shake his head.

"Something wrong, Lord Fukasaku?"

"Jiraiya-boy." Fukasaku had a concerned look on his face. "We just found more bad news. There's something wrong with this boy's contract."

"Wait, what?"

"To put it simply...his contract's corroded." Fukasaku said carefully. "We don't know why, but somehow, his connection to us is just...disrupted. It's almost as if something evil just stepped in between our bond and poured acid all over it."

"Wait wait wait." Jiraya waved his hands around before speaking. "You're trying to tell me that Naruto's contract somehow got broken? How's that possible?"

"Not broken." Fukasaku corrected. "Just...corrupted. I don't know. All I know is that he can't summon us, and we can't summon him. The only thing we do know is that our bond can only allow us to know that he's alive, but that's it."

He turned his head back to Naruto's still form.

"Whatever it is, it's related to whatever happened at that valley."

"Come to think of it," Jiraiya snapped his fingers, remembering something that his friend had previously said. "Tsunade mentioned how Naruto somehow suffered from extreme mental fatigue, which may be the reason to why he's in a coma in the first place."

"Strange, but could be related." Fukasaku scratched his chin in thought. "Did the Uchiha boy say anything that'll help us solve this mystery?"

Jiraiya shook his head. "Damn kid hasn't said a word ever since he got back here and got his chakra sealed off."

"He's the only one who might know what could've happened in that fight that caused Naruto-boy's current condition." Fukusaku pointed out. "It's imperative that we get some answers out of him sooner or later."

Just as Jiraiya was going to say something else, the door burst open, revealing a panting Shizune.

"Outside!" Shizune gasped, trying to take in some air. "Something large! Come quick!"

"What? Another invasion?!" Jiraiya asked, but Shizune just ran back outside. Taking out a kunai, he followed the young woman outside, hoping for an answer.

* * *

**[Konoha Shopping District ; A Few Minutes Earlier]**

Life in the Konoha Shopping District was never a dull one, with civilians and shinobi alike always crowding the district, looking to buy or sell something of value.

Amongst the crowds stood the members of Team 8, Team 10, Team Gai, and Sakura Haruno. With everyone now discharged from the hospital, everyone agreed to visit Naruto at least once a day.

One of them was carrying a get-well basket, which was stuffed with cards and letters and an unopened cup of beef ramen, which was cleverly hidden underneath some delicious looking fruits.

"Hiding that cup of ramen underneath the fruits." Ino smiled at her friend Hinata. "Good thinking. I'm pretty sure Naruto will appreciate it when he wakes up."

Hinata did her best to hide the growing blush on her face with the basket.

"I just thought that when he wakes up, he might want to eat something else than what the hospital offers." She tried not to stutter with some success, which she felt was a victory on her part.

Everyone else couldn't help but smile at Hinata's good nature, as well as her obvious crush on the blond goofball, and for the fact that out of every one of them, she visited his room everyday almost religiously.

"CRUNCH!"

The moment was ruined by the sound of someone chewing on something rather loudly. They all turned to the source of the noise, and deadpanned at the sight of Choji eating his bag of barbecue potato chips.

"Hmm, so tasty…" He moaned in delight.

Ino turned back to her teammate with a tick mark on her forehead.

"Damn it, Choji! The Hokage told you to not eat that crap for another week!"

Chouji pouted at his blonde teammate. "Oh come on, Ino."

"Chouji…"

"Man, what a drag. Let it go, Ino." This time it was Shikamaru spoke, the only member of the group who's a full fledged Chunin, as evident by his jacket. "It's not like we're trying to stop Naruto from eating healthy."

"I do have to agree with the Yamanaka for once." Neji joined the conversation. "I also agree that it might not be the best idea to bring unhealthy food to someone who hasn't even woken up from his coma yet."

"Come on Neji, give them a break." Tenten, the weapon specialist of Team Gai, waved her hands. "You know what Lady Tsunade has told us: He'll wake up the next week or so, so that's no problem. Besides, there's a mini fridge in there so we can just put the ramen cup in there for the time being."

Tenten was one of the many people who didn't pay much attention to the spirited blond, seeing him as just another arrogant teen who had big dreams, but with no skill to back it up. After seeing him beat Neji - NEJI, of all people - in the Chunin Exams, she finally saw the boy for all of his potential, and ever since then, especially after the Retrieval Mission, she had finally decided to stop taking him so lightly, and to start paying more attention to him.

"YOSH!" Lee cried out (which at this point, failed to surprise them anymore). "I have faith that Naruto's Flames of Youth will help him awaken him from his coma sooner or later! If not, I shall run around the village 500 times on my hands!"

This actually got some of them to burst into laughter, with even Neji smirking at his teammate's antics. After the Retrieval Mission, it would seem that they needed this usual dynamic to help keep their spirits up.

Sakura giggled at Lee's declaration.

"You do you, Lee."

This got everyone to laugh and grin even harder at Lee's positivity, with even Lee himself smiling at their reaction.

Well, all except for Kiba, who was unusually silent in his thoughts, which was not unnoticed by his teammate, Shino Aburame.

"You've been awfully quiet, Kiba." Shino mentioned, which shut up the group effectively. "Just speak out your mind if you need to."

"... I still can't believe that bastard Sasuke tried to turn traitor." Kiba finally blurted it out, causing the others to stop and turn around after hearing this. Kiba sucked in some air between his teeth, and seeing as how he finally said what needed to be said, he decided to continue.

"Look, I've been pissed off about some crap some of the civilians are saying." Kiba growled. "They've been spreading some nasty rumors, you know?"

"...Yeah, I hear you." Shikamaru began to unleash his inner thoughts as well. "Pretty messed up how people turn on you…"

While trying to lose himself in his own thoughts, he couldn't help but overhear some very foolish statements coming from some of the villagers, who obviously held unwarranted animosity towards the blond.

Don't get him wrong, he knew exactly why they hated the blond from birth. Shikamaru, who held a very high IQ level, was one of the few people who quickly deduced just why Naruto was so hated. He was also wise and smart enough to not talk about it, else he would be punished under the law of the late Third Hokage. His suspicions were only confirmed after the Chuunin Exam, when Naruto used _that _chakra in his match against Neji.

Admittedly, it did frighten Shikamaru quite a bit, but if Hinata could still love him, especially for who he was, then he trusted her judgement.

"Some of them," Kiba continued, his teeth grinding from frustration, "have the balls to deny that the bastard was going to defect to the Third Hokage's killer, while Naruto's still breathing through a tube because his lungs were destroyed from that same bastard."

This got many nods of agreement, especially from Neji and Choji, who weren't very happy at the way their critically injured comrade was treated.

The whole story hadn't come out yet, but the people were already beginning to cook up lies and theories, which quickly evolved into spread rumors. The most popular one happened to be where Sasuke was a victim of some sorts, with Naruto somehow being responsible for the "kidnapping."

"I must say, Kiba," Shino began to throw his word in, "this is the first time you've been very outspoken for Naruto, given how you both weren't very good acquaintances."

"Hey, I'll admit that Naruto and I might not be on good terms, but you know what? He convinced me otherwise."

Seeing the stunned reactions from the others, Kiba decided to elaborate.

"Sure, he beat me in the Chunin Exams, sure, he's still a goofball and a loud mouth, but he's someone you can at least trust when shit goes down."

Everyone who was a part of the Retrieval Mission wholeheartedly agreed. When it came down to it, he was capable of being serious, and he was capable of holding his own and helping out out his comrades. Arguably, this was what really earned him their respect, and this is why they finally accepted him as a valuable comrade of Konoha.

Sakura bit her lip. She couldn't bring herself to mention the conversation she remembered having with Sasuke before, on how he talked about why Naruto wasn't truly moping about having no parents, and why he was still being positive after she made a rather insensitive comment about wishing to not have parents. From what she knew, Naruto was the only one who was orphaned at a very young age without even knowing who his parents were.

Similarly, both Tenten and Lee lost their parents on the day of the Kyuubi attack, but Lee was taken under Gai's wing as his mentor - and later on, a father-like figure, - while Tenten was adopted by her godparents.

Then there was Sasuke, who lost his entire family right in front of him by his own brother while they were just in their Academy days. He never did accept anyone's offer to adopt him, choosing to remain alone in the Uchiha Compound, perhaps as a way to remember and honor them while he trained and lived there.

While he never did have another parent-like figure ever again, he was adored by the village, with everyone always smiling at him, trying to cheer him up, and thanking him (and thus, his late-family) for their services as Konoha's ex-police force. Hell, he was also often given special treatment in the Academy, offering special tutoring and such, to which he happily accepted, hoping to quickly grow stronger to avenge his family.

When you looked at the facts, Naruto's life was the polar opposite of Sasuke's, which was funny in a way, considering how both of them turned out.

Shikamaru, out of everyone in the group, knew these facts, and the more he thought about it, the more he was surprised that Naruto didn't just up and leave the village a long time ago. Getting the piss-poor treatment he did up to this day, any sane man or woman would've just given up on the village and would've left in the middle of the night in a very Sasuke-like style.

But Naruto didn't. Instead of leaving much like how Sasuke had done, he had chosen to stay, for one reason or another. Looking back, perhaps the small interactions he and Choji had with the blond helped him stay rooted here. The fact that the Third Hokage and Iruka themselves paid some attention to him, even giving him a home, probably helped him keep treason out of his mind.

Shikamaru then imaged an alternate universe, where much like Gaara, he was treated much worse, with even the Hokage shunning his own citizen. He imaged an alternate universe where even he and Choji bullied him and shunned him from the group. He shuddered when he thought about the Kyuubi attack that happened when he was very young, and wondered if a repeat of that might've happened had Naruto reached his breaking point all those years ago.

His thoughts were interrupted when a large shadow passed over them. Noting how dark it suddenly became, he knew that this was no mere cloud.

"Huh?" Shikamaru and the others looked up, and what they saw caused their eyes to widen and their jaw to drop.

* * *

**[Konoha - Hokage Building]**

"I want all civilians to be evacuated to the shelters." Tsunade was barking orders to various shinobi. "Tell the Genin and Chunin to aid in the evacuation. Meanwhile, I want all Jounin to spread the word to all the Clans all over the village to do the same!"

"Yes ma'am!" All the shinobi flickered away, leaving nothing but dust behind as evidence of their former presence, leaving behind one purple-haired ANBU agent, who was wearing a cat mask.

"You, go back to the hospital. Protect Naruto with your life if you have to."

"Yes, Lady Hokage." The ANBU agent nodded, before flickering away. Just as the ANBU disappeared,Jiraiya opened the door and walked in with Shizune.

"Tsunade." Jiraiya walked up her. "Have you seen what it-"

"Yes, Jiraiya, I have working eyes." She said, turning around to the window, staring through it with her old teammate and her apprentice. What they saw was something that they could have never imagined in a million years.

A large, metal structure was flying directly over the Hidden Leaf, momentarily almost eclipsing the sun with its large, metal body, with its looming shadow cast over the area underneath it..

Years of training and discipline helped keep Jiraiya calm as he began to think about their options, as well as how to decipher the situation.

"What do you think it is, Tsunade?"

"I don't know."

"Maybe it's a scouting party from the Land of Sky?" Jiraiya suggested, sending a shiver of fear down Tsunade's spine.

"I hope not." Tsunade whispered, clenching her fists tightly. She and her surviving friends remembered all too well the terror the Land of the Sky had imposed on the Elemental Nations. She remembered how the Sky shinobi had rained fire from above, and how she lost so many friends as they could do nothing but dodge and hide from their fury.

"Its huge…" Shizune whispered, hugging Tonton a little tighter than necessary.

"What's the plan, Tsunade? We need to act fast."

"Wait a moment, let me think." Tsunade gritted her teeth.

"Look!" Shizune cried out.

The two Sannin turned back and saw that the ship was going for the outskirts of the village, to the training fields outside the village.

"The training grounds…" Tsunade muttered, before ordering Jiraiya to prepare every active shinobi they had.

* * *

**[Konoha - Third Training Ground]**

The Third Training Ground, which was the field in where many generations of shinobi had trained, was peaceful today.

The river flowed without disturbance, the winds blew naturally, and the trees were free to grow without the threat of it being destroyed in the process of training.

Taking advantage of this rare time of peace, a few creatures began to come out from the forest, whether to get a change of atmosphere, to get a bigger room to stretch their limbs, or to simply look for food and resources outside of the dark forest they usually confided themselves in.

A bird flew out from the forest, looking for fallen twigs and small branches to use to make their nests, which was usually the aftermath of the battles of the elemental giants.

A squirrel poked its head out from a bush, looking left and right and above and below for any signs of danger, be it natural or unnatural. Seeing no sign of danger, the little critter darted from the safety of the forest, sniffing around for any fallen nuts, which usually happened after the giants had their battles, their inhuman powers tearing up the trees without care. Finding one, it seized the fallen acorn, checking it for any signs of mold.

It froze in its tracks when it noticed a large shadow forming over its body. Reluctantly abandoning its lucky find, it ran back into the forest, making loud squeaks in terror.

A large, metal ship landed on the spot where the rodent was just a few seconds ago. The doors for the Consular-Class Cruiser slid open, revealing a group of Naboo security guards and a small group of Jedi.

Most of the foreigners stopped to admire the nice scenery, enjoying the sight of the blue sky and the crisp, fresh air. Yoda, however, merely frowned, as if seeing something he did not like.

"Master Yoda, are you alright?" Obi Wan asked the elder master.

"Returned I have, after so long." Yoda responded sadly. "Quieter it has been, since that day. Remnants of war in the air, however, I can still feel."

"I will say," Anakin walked up to the two Jedi Masters. "For a so-called warrior planet, they really didn't seem to notice our ship until we just landed."

The young Skywalker was obviously not impressed with this backwater planet, with Obi Wan rolling his eyes at his arrogance.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that, sir." Captain Typho looked around nervously. "I'm starting to think that they're just getting ready for a fight."

"Correct you are, Captain Typho." Yoda nodded, already sensing multiple lifeforms converging towards their location. "Fearful, these natives are. Be cautious, we must be."

"This is going to be extremely difficult if we're going to try and establish solid negotiations." This came from the senator of Alderaan, Bail Organa who joined in with Amidala on this diplomatic mission "What if they do see us as a hostile force?"

"Negotiations will be extremely difficult if the natives are much more hostile than we hope." The senator of Alderaan Bail Organa, said nervously.

He, alongside of every other senator of the Republic, have viewed Yoda's memory of the recently revealed planet of Elementia, and while it's obvious at this point that this Kaguya woman is still contained in the planet's moon, he was more worried about the fact that her son

Hagoromo had granted the people the power of "chakra." Throw in the fact that they were in countless wars before the rise of Kaguya, as well as Yoda's statement about feelings the "remnants of war," he couldn't help but wonder if the Naboo security guards would be able to keep them safe.

"I will have to agree with Senator Organa here, Master Anakin." C3P0 was the last one to exit the Consular Class Cruiser. "With what Master Yoda has told us, we might be dealing with a very dangerous group of people."

"Come on, C-3P0." Anakin replied smugly. "We have better skills and weapons. If they try anything, then we'll act in self defense, and we'll call it a night. Besides, with a Republic Cruiser flow above our heads, how much could they honestly do to us?"

Obi Wan walked up to his friend, and asked, "Anakin, for once can you think like a Jedi and not like a warrior?"

"Hey, what the-!" Anakin cried out.

"What is it, Anaki-" Obi Wan started, but he too quickly realized the new development.

He discovered that for some inexplicable reason, he was completely paralyzed! Furthermore, it would appear that he wasn't the only one, as evident by the Naboo guards and the senators struggling to move, only to be rooted firmly to their spot.

"Shadow Possession Jutsu, complete." Shikamaru said with a smirk. He looked up towards what he assumed to be the possible invaders. "Who are you, and what are your intentions for this village?"

Just as he said these words, numerous Leaf shinobi jumped out of the woods, and the Republic troops and delegates was soon surrounded. Jumping behind Shikamaru was his sensei Asuma and Kakashi Hatake.

"Good work Shikamaru." Asuma complimented his student. "You've bound them without them even noticing it."

"Yeah, nicely done, kid. Let's wait until Lady Hokage arrives." Kakashi said. He gazed at the strange men and women (and whatever the hell the other guys were), who looked rather confused. He guessed that their confusion derived from the Nara kid's jutsu, as well as the language barrier, due to the fact that they spoke another language that they weren't familiar with.

Just then, one of the foreigners - a woman in fancy clothing - said something in anger, which gained their attention. He wasn't sure what she had just said, but he guessed it had something to do with Shikamaru.

…

"They use children as soldiers?" Senator Amidala yelled in disbelief. She had just looked at the person responsible for their paralysis, and was shocked when it turned out to be a young boy. "That's just horrible!"

"Now are you in the mood for your method?" Anakin couldn't help but jab at his master. "It might be helpful now."

"Of course with _your _planning, it's no surprise it always ends up like this." Obi Wan playfully shot back as he stared back at the warriors in front of them. As predicted, the natives of Elementia had long forgotten Galactic Basic, which Hagamoro had quickly learned using his "Rinnegan," as Yoda had explained. Hopefully, they can get C-3P0 to talk to them before a potential war breaks out.

"C-3P0." Obi Wan said to the droid.

"Oh dear!" The golden protocol droid exclaimed, sounding genuinely surprised. "I do believe that this is the very first time that you have ever spoken to me by my name in forever!"

Obi Wan chuckled at that.

"Yes, yes, that might be true. Anyways, could you please talk to these natives and tell them that we are here on a diplomatic mission?"

"Oh." C-3P0 seemed reluctant to do so, given the number of potential hostiles that were standing in front of them. "Are you certain that is what you want me to do?"

"Go, and take R2 with you." Padme said, trying to free herself from the mysterious grip. "They don't seem to see you as a threat, so you may be our only hope of diplomacy."

"As you wish, my lady." C-3PO nodded, before turning to his buddy. "Come, R2."

The small Astro-droid beeped rather grumpily for some reason as it started moving forwards with the golden droid towards the three shinobi, which left them feeling nervous and quite confused.

Asuma was visible stunned by the approaching metal beings.

"Wait, are those...machines?"

"What a drag…" Shikamaru sighed, although he was secretly interested in them. "Looks like it...but who knows?"

"I've seen a lot of things in my life," Kakashi said with a raised eyebrow, "but this takes the cake."

"Hello, my name is C-3PO, human cyborg relations," He introduced himself, before turning to his friend. "And this is my counterbot, R2-D2."

The shorter droid wiggled and beeped to greet them.

The three Shinobi turned to each other silently, confirming C-3P0's suspicions about their language barrier..

"Oh, I see you don't understand me. Perhaps my knowledge of your language is severely outdated. Well, I can translate over 6 million languages, and I am built to quickly learn and adapt to all forms of communication, so please just say a sentence, and I can roughly translate it to my master."

Contrary to the droid's belief, the three shinobi _could _understand him. After all, this...machine, was somehow speaking their language. They were, however, too gobsmacked to even utter a single word. 6 million languages? What exactly was this thing, a walking computer?

"Oh my, how can I get you to speak?" C-3P0 wondered out loud. He turned to the astromech to his right. "R2, any suggestions?"

R2 gave a series of beeps that sounded suspiciously like snickers as he rolled over towards the kneeling Shikamaru, stopping right in front of him.

"Huh?"

A part of R2's body then opened up, revealing what looked to be a small pipe. Before anyone could even blink, a jet of black oil was squirted into the Nara's face.

"Argh!" Shikamaru jumped back and grabs his face, stopping his jutsu.

"Oh no…" Obi Wan muttered, hoping to the Force that the mischievous droid's actions didn't just started a war.

"R2, that's not what I meant!" C-3PO said, worried to death about the potential consequences of his friend's actions. The protocol droid kicked the R2 unit's side. "Stupid astromech."

"Hey!" Shikamaru shouted at the droid, trying to get rid of the oil from his face. "What was that about?!"

"Oh my!" C-3PO exclaimed, raising his hands up. "So your language hasn't changed after all! You _can _understand me! "

"...Yes, we can." Kakashi confirmed. "Our...apologies for the late reply. As you can see, we're rather mind blown at the moment."

"Quite understandable. Nothing to be ashamed about." C-3P0 assured them. "Anyways, so now that communications are quite clear, I can finally deliver my message: We are not here intenting for war. Instead, we are here on the behalf of the galactic Republic in order to discuss talks, especially regarding the possibility of open trade, the construction of space ports, as well as a spot in the Republic Senate Chamber."

"Wait wait wait, a space port?" Asuma asked carefully. "You mean…you all come from space?"

"Well, not necessarily _from _space, but from our capital planet, Coruscant." C-3PO answered. "With the Senators from Naboo and Alderaan, as well as a few members of the Jedi Order, we've come on an official diplomatic mission in the name of the Republic to establish first contacts between your world and the galaxy."

This turned every shinobi pale what they heard from a short distance from the golden droid.

Kakashi and Asuma turned to look at each other, and realized just how much bigger the situation - and their world - had just gotten. They barely understood half of what was going on, but they did understand one key thing: These strange beings are from beyond the stars, and they were intelligent life, coming on board a vehicle with technology far superior to theirs, with perhaps even weapons far superior to theirs.

"We need to escort them to the Hokage immediately." Asuma quickly noted.

"Right." Kakashi nodded.

Shikamaru, on the other hand, didn't seem to give a damn about the whole situation, and was still trying to get the oil off his face.

"Aliens and machines from outer space." Shikamaru sighed, grimacing at his new jacket's ruined sleeve. "What a drag."

Meanwhile, Master Yoda thought it now was the best moment to explore around so he said to the Senators and Jedi "Go to the leader, you will. Explore I will the village." He said walking with his cane away towards the village on his own.

…

While the droids did their talking, the dark shadow that held everyone prisoner was suddenly cut off from their shadows, and the members of the Republic suddenly found themselves able to move.

"Shall we prepare for combat?" Typho asked.

Obi Wan quickly shook his head.

"I don't believe that'll be necessary." Obi Wan said, watching as their droid was finally communicating with the native soldiers.

The shinobi saw a bearded man approach them and he introduced himself with a slight bow of respect, with C-3P0 making sure to translate each party's words.

"Hello, my name is Obi-Wan Kenobi of the Jedi Order."

"Kakashi Hatake." Kakashi introduced himself, before pointing at his friend. "This is Asuma Sarutobi. Your machine said that you're here on a diplomatic mission?"

"Droid, actually. And yes, those are our intentions." Obi Wan nodded, trying to ease the tense atmosphere. "Will you please take us to your leader, whoever he or she may be?"

"Our leader's name is Tsunade. Lady Tsunade." A voice appeared out of nowhere, making everybody jump in surprise.

A white haired man wearing sage-like clothing had just appeared out of nowhere. Despite his age, it was clear that he was a strong warrior, perhaps the strongest of the group, as evident by his tear-like red markings on his face, as well as the muscles that could be seen from underneath his clothing.

"The name's Jiraiya, and we'll escort you to her office." His eyes then gazed at the Naboo Senator, and suddenly his hard eyes turned into ones full of lust. "Together with this fine lady…"

Padme laughed rather awkwardly at the man.

"That's good to know." Padme smiled politely. "Please lead the way."

And with that, they all began to walk to the group, save for a few of the guards who stayed behind to guard their ship. Padme quickly regrouped with the Jedi with Senator Organa, following the Sannin and the other shinobi towards the village.

Anakin chose to cover the rear, where he was able to shoot glares at the white-haired man safely.

"That man's an open pervert." Anakin growled to his master. "He's been eyeballing Padme like a piece of meat for a while."

"I wouldn't be so worried if I were you." Obi Wan replied. "Senator Amidala knows how to deal with these kind of things. After all, she wasn't a former queen and the current senator for her looks, you know."

Obi Wan then raised his eyebrows at the Skywalker.

"Besides, why _are _you so invested into the senator's life?"

"I'm just concerned for the senator." Anakin said truthfully. "We don't know what kind of people we're dealing with. Who knows, their leader might be a ruthless woman."

"I suppose your concerns are valid, but do try to worry less, my friend." Obi Wan warned him. "Or else you may never become a Master."

"Yes, master." They all then walked in silence, save for the occasional light-hearted chatter amongst themselves to try to calm themselves down.

Despite their attempts to relieve their anxiety, they all couldn't help but be nervous at the meeting with the village leader. If a warrior, who hadn't even reached adulthood yet, was able to paralyze the entire group without warning, then just what could their village leader be capable of?

* * *

**[The Hokage's Office]**

THUD!

Everyone jumped a little when Tsunade Senju, the blonde-haired leader of the village, slammed down her now empty sake bottle. This honestly took the visitors by surprise, since they were expecting a very strict leader, with an equally harsh, hostile view on them for suddenly entering their village.

Tsunade looked up at the bodyguards, then Jedi, then the senators, who were sitting in front of her, before reaching down from under her desk. The human guards from Naboo tensed up, their fingers reaching for the trigger, until it turned out that she just pulled out another bottle of sake. Ripping open the cap, she downed it in front of everyone, getting sweatdrops from both the Republic and the shinobi.

Anakin whispered to his master, "I guess this is her way with coping with the fact that she's meeting people from outer space."

"Indeed it is, my friend." Obi Wan said, while trying to hold back a chuckle. "Granted, she is taking this rather well, I believe, all things considering."

Shizune cleared her throat, before she tried to step in.

"Lady Tsunade, please stop drinking." She pleaded. "This is not the way to make first contact with people from other world!"

CRUNCH!

The empty bottle shattered into a dozen pieces in her hands, making her assistant scurry away from her now-ticked off boss.

She cracked her knuckles after using a towel to wipe her hands dry, while observing the reactions form the delegation. Noticing that the two so-called sorcerers, who dressed similarly to the spiritual monks in the Fire Temple, didn't show too much of a reaction towards her. The armored men with strange weapons, for obvious reasons, but it was clear that they were tense and ready for combat if necessary. The machines somehow looked nervous as well, but if she had to be honest, they creeped her out. Especially the golden, humanoid one, with its glowing yellow eyes and it's blank, unchanging expression.

She shifted her focus onto the two senators, who were acting as the representatives for this "Galactic Republic" to act on their behalf to try to set up some negotiations. The guy on the right seemed to be slightly intimidated by the show she was giving, and was doing his best to not look uncomfortable.

The woman to his left - Padme, if she remembered correctly - didn't seem to be intimidated by her at all, but rather, she was glaring at her as if one would glare at a person they had a grudge against.

"You got something on your mind, lady?" Tsunade grunted. "If so, speak up."

C-3P0 quickly translated this to her, and that's when Padme stomped towards her desk. This caused some of the shinobi to move towards her, and some of her guards to raise their weapons, but Tsunade waved them both off.

"You use child soldiers." Padme said, slamming her hands on Tsunade's desk.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me." Padme stated, challenging the Sannin. "Forget the fact that you're intoxicated while we're here to discuss the future of your village. You seem to not be ashamed at the idea of sending a child into the frontline and potentially risking his life."

"Senator Amidala," Bail began, trying to stop this from escalating. "Maybe-"

"Look, missy," Tsunade shot back to the senator. "What you saw is reality out here - _our _reality. While your mother was still in some stuck up school or whatever, I was already saving lives on the battlefield when _I _wasn't even sixteen yet. This place isn't such a peaceful planet, which, by the looks of your white knights, you probably already suspected. This place isn't such a peaceful planet like wherever you came from. So unless you're trying to start something with me, I don't want to hear it."

The blonde was now leaning over her desk, her face just inches away from the brunette's, glaring directly into the former queen of Naboo, who wasn't easily intimidated.

"Well for your information, I _have _seen my own people getting killed. I fought alongside my people when my planet Naboo was invaded by the Trade Federation. I fought alongside them to take back my home, and we won. I volunteered with a relief group and helped to relocate the children who had to flee from the Federation, some which died without even been given the chance to live their full life."

Taking a second to allow herself to breathe, as well as to allow C-3P0 to do his work as fast as he could, she continued to glare at the female leader, before she continued.

"I may know what other planets do, such as this one, but that doesn't mean I won't speak my mind about it, Lady Hokage."

The entire time this exchange went out, the atmosphere grew impossible tense, wondering which lady would strike at each other first, possibility igniting a war that one side will lose.

After one full minute of ominous silence, Tsunade smirked, making a half smile at the senator.

"Well, you've guts, senator. That, I can respect. I can see it in your eyes from one soldier to another that every word you just said wasn't bullshit. Looks like you aren't the stuck-up princess I thought you were."

Padme sat back down. " I assume you've lost loved ones?"

"Yeah, I lost some people…" Tsunade laid back on her chair wearily, her eyes lost in thought. She was brought back to those terrible moments, where she watched her brother Nawaki and her lover Dan die in her arms, with all those years of training as a medic seemingly gone to waste in that moment.

"I'm sorry for your loss, madam." Padme said in a respectful tone.

"Don't sweat it." Tsunade sighed, and turned back to the delegation. "It's been a long time. All I can do is to just try not to think about it too much. But I understand your concern about the age of our shinobi going into battle. Unfortunately this is the way it's been going on for centuries, and it doesn't appear to be stopping anytime soon."

"If I may join the conversation, I want to ask you a couple of vital questions." Obi Wan stepped in. "Before we came down here, we've done a planetary scan, and we've found more settlements like this village across the nation."

"You must be talking about the other shinobi villages." Jiraiya said, answering the Jedi's question. "There are numerous villages much like ours throughout the nation, which is divided into a few countries. Each country tends to have just one shinobi village."

Jiraiya pulled out a map from Tsunade's desk. Laying it out, he began to describe its contents.

"For example, our village Konohagakure (or just Leaf, for your sake) lies in the Land of Fire. As you can probably guess from the map, our village is one of the five great ones of the Elemental Nations, with the other four being Suna (Sand), Kiri (Mist), Kumo (Clouds), and Iwa (Rocks). The rest are smaller villages, like Taki (Waterfall), Kusa (Grass), Ame (Rain), and so forth."

Poor C-3P0 did his best to keep up. Anakin raised his eyebrows when C-3P0 noted to them the literal translations for the villages.

"Each village is named after what its known for." Jiraiya shrugged. "Kirigakure, or as your 'droid' translated as 'Village Hidden in the Mists,' is known to be always surrounded with a thick mist, due to its location being on an island surrounded by the sea. The mist is always so thick that if you tried to make it there on ship, you wouldn't see the rocks until the damned things sent your ships to the bottom of the sea."

Bail cleared his throat, effectively grabbing their attention.

"Is there any way to contact the other villages?"

"I wouldn't try it just yet." Tsunade shook her head. "Our village isn't exactly at ease with any of the other current villages right now, especially with the other four main powers."

Obi Wan grew more interested into the conversation. "Please explain just how bad the relations are."

"Well for one, Leaf and Rock haven't been in good contact with each other for almost over a decade after the Third Great Shinobi War."

"Third Great Shinobi War?"

"Everyone was involved." Someone said grimly. Everyone's eyes turned towards the new speaker, and found that it was the masked man named Kakashi. "The Rock and Leaf were fighting across the eastern lands of Grass, with many casualties on both sides in the process for months. The front was undecided until the battle of Kannabi Bridge, which turned the war in the Leaf's favor, but that was only one front. On the southwestern fronts, the Leaf was fighting against Mist, or also known at the time as 'Bloody Mist.' The casualty rates was almost like the one against Stone."

Kakashi's singular eye seemed to dim as he stared at the map.

"How many?" This time the one asking the next question was Typho, the Naboo captain who wore the blue armor. He had deduced that Kakashi was a survivor of that war. "How many comrades did you lose in that war?"

"...My best friend got killed at the Kannabi Bridge." Kakashi slowly answered. "My other friend died in a battle with the Hidden Mist. Lost my whole team in that war… "

Typho nodded solemnly. "I'm sorry to hear that. I really mean it."

"Much obliged."

"...Anyways," Jiraiya reluctantly cut in. "With the Rock Village, it's most likely that they won't talk to us, much less you guys. Hell, they'll probably try to shoot you down the moment they see you guys, using the natural terrain they surround themselves with. The Hidden Mist, on the other hand, is in complete chaos, last I heard."

"How so?"

"It's in the midst of a civil war." Jiraiya explained. "We don't know how it began but fighting broke off after a clan tried to rebel against the Mizukage, their village leader, causing him to turn a rampage against all the clans who either got slaughtered or forced to flee. We still don't know who's exactly on the winning side, whether it's the rebels or the Mizukage, so I would wait until speaking with them. Unlike us, they kill outsiders on sight."

"That's quite a way to send a message." Obi Wan said, stroking his beard. This would prove to be difficult in the future for sure. "What about the Hidden Cloud, or 'Kumo', as you would call it?"

"They've been keeping a very low key profile on their activities for the last ten years." Tsunade said, shaking her head from the alcohol's influence. "They keep to themselves, and are trying to stay out from everyone's problems after the Hyuga incident."

"Hyuga incident?"

"One of their Shinobi - the ambassador, actually, - tried to kidnap the heiress of the Hyuga clan, which ended in his death and one of the Hyuga members giving up his life to prevent a war." Tsunade answered. "The Hidden Cloud is what we believe to be the second most powerful shinobi village at the moment."

Bail Organa couldn't help but feel more uncomfortable about being on the same planet with these brutes. Their culture and their history of war was reminding him a little too much about Mandalore.

"And Suna?"

"Well...maybe not yet." Jiraiya slowly said. "Long story short, they were our allies until they teamed up with the Hidden Sound for an attempted invasion not that long ago. I mean, we won, and the Sand surrendered, but… "

Jiraiya's face turned grim.

"They… managed to take out the Third Hokage, as well as many of our own shinobi, before fleeing. But, since we all discovered that the Sand was tricked into the invasion by an...impersonator, the Sand is now asking for renegotiations."

Jiraiya looked at the map once more, before looking back at the senators.

"That's pretty much it for the big villages. The smaller ones are either neutral for the most part, or may be secretly allied with the Sound Village. Either way, it might not be a good idea to approach them for a while."

"Duly noted." Bail Organa nodded, knowing well just how fragile peace can be, and how there was a time and place to approach new life.

"Wait, something doesn't add up." Senator Amidala spoke up, just realizing an important missing detail. "You said that a while ago, the Third Hokage was killed, but if the woman in front of me is the Fifth Hokage, what happened to the Fourth?"

The air around them suddenly grew tense, and it was at that moment that Padme knew that she had just broken what seemed to be a taboo subject.

Finally, Jiraiya opened his mouth to answer.

"The Fourth Hokage died almost fourteen years ago, just months after he helped win the Third Great Shinobi War, and after being recently inaugurated as the Fourth Hokage."

He then pointed at a photo across the room. Everyone's eyes followed his finger, and looked at a portrait of a blonde, handsome man smiling at the audience.

"His name was Minato Namikaze, also nicknamed 'The Yellow Flash,' due to his ability to transport to almost teleport from one position to another in a blink of an eye."

Anakin's curiosity got the better of him as he asked, "How did he die?"

Again, the uncomfortable silence returned, and the security guards tensed up again, seeing the shinobi's fingers itch for their blades.

"...We're sorry, but that information cannot be revealed directly, due to the late Third Hokage's law that prohibits it." Shizune finally said, shivering at the tension in the room.

It didn't take a force user to notice the feelings of grief, regret, and sadness that filled the room. It also didn't take a force user like Obi Wan and Anakin to quickly realize that talking about the Fourth Hokage was a literal taboo subject.

"We're sorry for bringing it up." Obi Wan apologized on behalf of his partner, to which the Hokage nodded at him.

"Anyways," Organa decided to resume the original conversation before the situation grew more awkward. "Shall we discuss the future of your village and the Republic?"

The normal politics were resumed as the two Jedi sighed, as they had to watch and listen to it.

Anakin then began to wonder about something. "I wonder what Master Yoda is doing."

"For once my friend, you've outthought me."

* * *

Yūgao Uzuki sighed from behind her mask. The ANBU agent was tasked by the Hokage herself to guard the young boy she used to protect from harm years ago when Naruto was only a small child.

Together with Kakashi, they were one of the few to willingly stop anybody from harming the young boy from any harm while working in the shadows. Like the one-eyed shinobi, she was one of the very few to know about his heritage. After all, one of his parents used to be her sensei…

It pained her to see her sensei's son breathing out of a tube, in a coma where there was that scary chance that he may never wake up. Hearing that he had sustained potentially fatal wounds, her relief came from the news that Shizune was the one leading the operation. Knowing her medical expertise, as well as their mutual fondness for the boy, she knew he was in good hands.

She stroked Naruto's whiskered cheek with the back of her hand, and she smiled when his lips twitched into a smile. While she learned a while ago that it wasn't a sign of him waking up, it was at least comforting to know that he could still smile, and that he could still recognize her presence.

Watching the boy from his first day in the Academy to his success in the Suna/Oto invasion, Naruto had shown his loyalty and strength every chance he could, even when he had the worst given to him by the village's civilians, and even from some of its shinobi.

"Don't worry, Naruto, you've done your job." Yūgao whispered to the boy. "Your mother would be proud of you."

Just as she said those words, the door opened, making Yūgao turn towards the door to see who it was. Her hands immediately shot towards her sword, when two ANBU guards stepped inside.

"It's alright, they're...visitors." They both said a little too hesitantly. Narrowing her eyes, they traveled to the two strangers. Outfitted with brown and dark colored armor, they held strange, small items in their hands that she could only assume was their weapons.

"Who the hell are they?" She asked.

"My bodyguards, they are." An unfamiliar voice explained from underneath them. Her eyes traveled downward, and her eyebrow shot up at the sight of a small, child-sized green creature wearing what appeared to be monk robes.

"Yeah, I know." The ANBU guard nodded in agreement. "A bit much to take in. All would be explained later. Long story short, diplomatic mission, not from here, and they're friendly."

"Alright then… " Yūgao reluctantly moved her hands away from her weapon, making the guards relax. The short, green man(?) slowly walked towards the blond.

"What are your intentions with the boy?" Yūgao asked cooly.

"Just talk, I want to." The elderly being said. She raised her eyebrow at his strange manner of speech.

"He's in a coma, in case you hadn't noticed."

"Not him, I wish to talk to." He said, making her eyes widen. Before she could think about whether or not to execute him on the spot for knowing the forbidden secret, he placed his three-fingered hand on his stomach, and closed his eyes.

* * *

**[The Prison]**

Yoda opened his eyes, and found himself to be in what looked like a sewer system. Dark, dank, and ominously quiet, the only sounds that could be heard was the sound of water splashing as he moved around the large tunnels.

Before he knew it, Yoda had found a large cage in front of it, with the only lock being a large piece of paper on it, with some letters written with the native's language on it.

Yoda decided to walk closer to the gate. He thought about trying to enter the cage, but decided against it.

**"WHO'S THERE?!"** A loud roar echoed the hallway, which made Yoda step back in surprise.

Large footsteps shook the hallway as something large stepped up to the cage. Yoda looked up, and his jaw dropped at the sheer size of the being that stood in front of him. It was Kurama alright - but he had grown _much _bigger.

The Nine-Tailed Fox, who was once only the size of a small house, had grown to the size of mountains. The orange beast, who had once been able to look down at Yoda with ease, loomed over him. Had Yoda been any other person, he would've admittedly been afraid.

The large beast growled from above, the sound which would've frightened off an army of krayt dragons. Unable to see the intruder, the giant crouched down to take a better look at him.

His eyes widened upon recognizing the small man as he choked a little bit.

**"Y-Yoda?"**

"Kurama." Yoda grew a small smile on his face. "Grown you have."

"Yoda…"

CRASH!

Kurama slammed his hand against the ground, almost unbalancing Yoda from where he stood. The large fox growled at his old friend.

**"You got a lot of nerve to come here after all these years!"** Kurama roared at the Jedi Master with anger that shook the whole area. The water from underneath them ripples from the pure hate and power that radiated from the creature. Still, Yoda remained calm in the face of the beast.

"Angry you are, I can understand." Yoda said as he fearlessly made a step forward. "Assume your experience, bad it has been?"

**"Bad? BAD?! It's only ****_been_** **bad after Hagoromo passed away!"** Kurama hissed, slashing at the seal in anger. **"Ever since his death, I've been hunted and hated by humans for the last six centuries! I wasn't able to see the others because we've been hunted by humans, who are after us for our power and want to use us as weapons! I have been sealed inside one human after another for the last hundred years, and now I'm stuck inside this annoying brat who's barely breathing because he's a reckless idiot!"** Kurama shouted, unleashing his years of hatred and frustration at the old man. He huffed, glaring at his old friend, who simply stared back in sadness.

After a few minutes, his eyes finally dimmed down, hatred fading away from them for the moment.

**"It's good to see you, Yoda. It's been too long since I've seen a familiar face…"**

"That I agree on. But, forgot the lesson, you did."

**"What are you on about, old man?"** Kurama got off track. **"And how are you even still alive? You must be-"**

"Talk about age, I'd rather not." Yoda chuckled. "Makes me feel old, it does. But still, forgotten the lessons, you have."

Using the Force, Yoda banished the water away from beneath him, and sat down on the cold floor. The Kyuubi decided to have a seat as well, and noted that a ring of dry land remained around the green Force-user, despite the water's efforts to try to invade that area of dry space.

"Give this boy, a chance you should." Yoda looked up at Kurama. "Sign of ignorance, the prejudgment of someone is."

Yoda himself has faced a lifetime of bigoted comments, as well as many unpleasant encounters with some close minded people.

**"Why should I?"** Kurama narrowed his eyes at Yoda's suggestion. **"The brat won't even speak to me unless he needs me, so why should I waste my time with him?"**

"Both of you will need each other, when the time is right." Yoda stated rather bluntly. "Sense a dark future, I have."

**"When will that happen?"**

"Know, I do not. Trust in the Force, you should. Need each other, you both will."

Kurama narrowed his eyes at the little old man, but he could tell that he was telling the truth. He didn't know much about this "Force," nor about the powers that came with it, but what he did know was that at times, it helped warn the user about a future event that would happen.

**"You still have trouble talking normally, old man,"**

Yoda chuckled at this, which brought a small grin to his face.

**"But, I'll take your word for it. Hagoromo trusted you, so I will too." **

His eyes then glared at the seal that bound him to the boy.

**"It's nice to know that you're still breathing, old man. The others would be very pleased to see you as well." **

Yoda smiled at the Nine-Tailed Fox. "Chance in the future, there may be. Came, the Republic has, to establish ties with the village, it is doing right now."

Kurama raised an eyebrow at that.

**"So after all these years, you guys finally decided to come back from your silly war to try to establish connections with these hairless monkeys? Hah, good luck with that. I've seen the people here fight so many wars that I learned to stop counting." **

"Any word from the others?" Yoda asked, referring to the other Tailed Beasts. Kurama shook his head.

**"Like I said, old man, they suffered the same faith as I have."** Kurama knocked at the seal from behind his cage. **"I did recently encounter that idiot Shukaku though. His container was a bit nuts, and he tried to attack the brat's village not that long ago. He pretty much got his ass kicked by my container, who only used a little bit of my chakra to defeat him at his full form."**

Kurama roared in laughter. **"I hate to admit it, but the brat started growing on me when he beat up Shukaku's ass!" **

Yoda chuckled, delighted to see Kurama laugh. It reminded him of that innocent laugh that he had when he was just a small fox.

Curious, he then asked, "The name of the boy, what is?"

**"Oh, the kid?"** Kurama grunted. **"His mother was actually my previous host, and her family was known to be the Seal Masters across the nation."** Kurama chuckled. **"And guess who's name is it."**

Yoda listened as Kurama gave a brief history about the kid's mother, her family, and the kid himself. Yoda's ears drooped as he was stunned and saddened to know the fate of the kid's family, as well as his harsh life that he lived out in the village.

"Many hardships, life seems to have brought to him. Deserved it, he did not. Good heart, he seems to have, according to you." Yoda sighed.

**"Yeah…"** Kurama agreed. **"The kid's annoying as hell and eats unhealthy, and there are times when I want to rip my ears out in frustration, but, as painful as it is to say this, the brat does remind me of Hagoromo at times. The boy's got determination, loyalty, strong willpower, and a strong convictions protect those who are precious to him." **

The more he talked about Naruto, the more he realized that he kind of liked the kid after all.

"I see." Yoda nodded with a smile. He then glanced upwards, as if sensing something.

"Unfortunately, but go, I must. Speak to you again, I hope to do so soon."

**"See you soon, old friend."** Kurama gave a genuine smile for the first time in ages.

"Indeed, we will."

* * *

Opening his eyes, Yoda grunted after his mind exited the boy's seal. He frowned at what he learned about the tailed beasts, and how even after everything that has happened, it would appear that the natives have not learned their lesson after Kaguya.

That could, however, change, thanks to the boy named Naruto Uzumaki, who, despite all the hate and prejudice, had chosen to stay with the village, to try to protect those that he cared about. Perhaps with this boy's help, he can help bridge the gap between the tailed beasts and the natives. Perhaps with this boy's help, Kurama could learn to open up to others again, and be that small fox from many centuries ago.

"Unpredictable, this one is." Yoda said, before getting off the chair to leave the room. "Like his future, very unpredictable."

Just before he went out of earshot from Naruto's room, he noticed a group of teenagers approaching the boy's room. He could sense their worry for the boy, and their smiles from when the purple-haired woman assured them that everything was alright, and that they could visit the boy with their permission.

"Powerful Jedi, become you could. Looking forward to see your future, I am." Yoda said to no one, before putting his hood over his head, and walking away. "Your name, history has not forgotten. Traits of my old friend, you have."

Yoda knew that the moment they felt The Ripple, everything would change. He knew that with this planet now under the eyes of both the Jedi and the Sith, things will be forever changed. How, is the question. Unfortunately, only time will tell.

The Force itself was indeed mysterious in its ways.

* * *

**LW AN: **

Due to a warning I got from someone, I've decided to stop reposting the story here. Instead, I will continue to do so on AO3. Since we'll be including lemons in that version, please check out the story from there as well, if that's your thing.

Happy Reading!


End file.
